


Chosen

by Nekoamamori



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-07-12 02:19:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 59
Words: 65,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15985526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nekoamamori/pseuds/Nekoamamori
Summary: Shapeshifters are immune from becoming vampires. What will happen to Samantha when she suddenly finds herself Chosen?





	1. Chapter 1

"You don't have to be nervous," my eldest brother, Eric, comforted me the day before my 15th birthday. "It's not like you can be Chosen," he reminded me, like this was common sense. Unfortunately, his calm words weren't enough. Of course I was nervous. Every 14 year old was, the day before their birthday.

I knew Eric was right, of course. He usually was. It was an annoying habit of older brothers… I was a shapeshifter. I could not be Chosen. I already had a path to follow. It wasn't a path I picked, since it would mean that I'd have to marry another shifter one day, but it would be a better path than being Chosen. Father and I also had an agreement on the subject of marriage: I would meet the boys he paraded in front of me, but he wouldn't pressure me to get married until after I graduated from college. It wasn't the perfect arrangement, but it was better than the one my mother, or many other shifter girls got stuck with.

Of course, shifter girls were much more rare than boys. I alone had four brothers, some of the other girls were seventh in their families. I didn't know the reason why girls were rarer, just that they were. I knew all of the shifters around here. Most specialized in a certain animal. My parents shifted into wolves.

I chose wolf occasionally, but I could take whatever animal shape I wanted. It wasn't a widely advertised ability. Even though I was only 14, it wasn't wise to advertise that to the other shifter tribes. They would put more pressure on my father, and even though he was an Alpha, there was still only so much he could do.

"Besides," Seth, my twin, added. "I'll be there with you, and of course mom and dad will be there too," he grinned at me. "No reason to be scared, Sammy," I punched him in the shoulder. I hated when they called me Sammy. My name was Samantha. Most of the time I went by Sam. I was athletic, more than most 14 year olds. It came from spending so much time in wolf form with my brothers in the woods. I had also been studying karate with them since I was old enough to convince my father that I needed to learn. He had balked at it at first, but when he caught me convincing my older brothers to teach me, he had relented, and finally decided it was a good idea if I could protect myself. "All we have to do is remind them we're shifters and they'll let us go," Seth added, drawing me again from my thoughts.

"C'mon, let's go for a run, that'll clear your mind," Eric suggested. "Dan and Dave are already out there," I grinned at him. It would be fun to chase those two down, and Eric and Seth would help me. Seth was my twin, so we seemed to always be on the same wavelength, and since Eric was the oldest, he had taken it upon himself to protect me, as the baby and the only daughter. I had been tagging after my brothers since I was old enough to toddle after them. This showed in my wardrobe, which greatly disappointed my mother, who had wanted a girly-girl for a daughter, and got the tomboy who dressed in flannel and jeans whenever I could.

"Let's go get them, then!" I called and raced for the backdoor, my brothers at my heels. Off of our backyard was a small forest, plenty big enough for a pack of wolves to go running, but it was still private property, which kept hunters and other humans away from us when we were wolves. After we reached the treeline my brothers instantly stripped so they could shift forms. I found a tree to hide behind so I could do the same. Shapeshifters weren't supposed to be self-conscious, since we have to shift in front of each other all the time, but I was also a 14 year old girl, and wanted some privacy. The boys took longer for the shift than I did. I forced myself to calm down and concentrate on the other form, the one I wished to take. I saw my wolf in my mind and felt my bones and muscles change, expand, contort. It didn't hurt so much as feel like cracking knuckles. There was some pain, but the relief I felt was so much better. I felt the fur grow and my hearing and sense of smell sharpen as I fell to all fours, stretching into the wolf form I was quickly acquiring.

When the transformation was complete, I stretched again before bounding back to Eric and Seth. They were finishing their own transformations. It seemed to pain them more, and they were slower about it, but they were also bigger wolves than I was. As soon as they had finished shifting, we ran into the forest to find Dan and Dave.


	2. Chapter 2

We ran through the forest, following the trail of Dan and Dave. Eric howled beside me and I had to join him. One wolf howling was lonely. Two wolves howling was song. Dan and Dave would know we were coming, but they would've known either way. It was a game to go find them, to chase them. Our song wasn't going to change that. We ran for awhile before we caught up with them. Dan made a small noise which made us pause. I sniffed the air and realized why. They had found a deer. Eric growled softly at me. They didn't want me in this. They would get the deer for me. I pouted and yipped at him, but Eric growled again. I cowered back away from him and shrank down, showing him that I would obey. The boys ran off, chasing after the deer, leaving Seth to stay with me. They never left me completely alone, especially while we were out here. I whined softly at Seth, who replied by nipping at my side, starting a game of tag. We ended up playing and chasing each other all the way back to the treeline. I didn't really want deer my brothers wouldn't let me help them with anyway. I shifted back behind my tree and found my clothes again.

"I'm headed back to the house," I told Seth. He nodded in wolf form and walked back with me, like an extremely large puppy. I sighed. I couldn't even walk back to the house, where two more shifters were waiting for me, without an escort. He left me at the backdoor and went loping back to the woods to find the rest of the boys and the deer.

I trudged back inside, hoping to avoid mom and her insistence that we talk about high schools. I couldn't make a decision until after tomorrow, but school started in a month, and we would have to decide soon after I turned 15. I really only had two options, St. Xavier, where my brothers went, or St. Ignatius, which was an all-girls high school. I was unfortunately leaning towards the all-girls school, just so I would have a fresh start. I didn't want to be constantly plagued by my the achievements/troubles of my brothers through all of high school. I already got comments all the time about how I was Eric's sister and bound to be great at science (like that was ever going to happen…) or Dan and Dave's sister and better not cause trouble in their class, etc. It was constant growing up, and I knew that the only way to avoid it was to go to a different school than my brothers, and they couldn't go to St. Ignatius. My parents, however, wanted me to be protected by my brothers while at school. Like anything was actually going to attack me. And I could take care of myself. Even if I couldn't take them as a karate-trained girl, I could shapeshift. . .

I snuck up to my room, hoping my parents hadn't heard me come in. I didn't want another round of them trying to convince me to go to St. Xavier. They could always order me to go there, but they had promised me the freedom of choice, like they had my brothers, who had gotten the choice of either St. Xavier, or St. Francis, the all-boys school. Unsurprisingly, they had all chosen the school the had girls in it. Once I found out that they had all gotten a choice, I had fought my parents hard to be able to choose for myself as well.

I managed to make it to my room without my mom noticing, for which I was grateful. My bed was right next to the window and I could see out into the forest. I pulled out a book to read, and flipped my laptop open to see if anyone was online.

-Nervous?- Melissa messaged me as soon as I got online. She was my best human friend. I'd known her since first grade.

-Not really. I don't think I'll be Chosen- I typed back quickly. I couldn't tell her that I was a shifter and couldn't be Chosen.

-I was a nervous wreck before I went. It's ok to be scared-

-Nah, not worth worrying about- I didn't want her worrying about me

-Have you picked what high school you're going to?- I asked her. She was torn between schools too.

-Aren't you going to Ignatius?-

-Yeah, much as my parents hate it. They want me to pick Xavier- she knew my problems, but not the real reason behind them.

-Not sure my parents want to send me to a private school…- tuition wasn't cheap at the private schools, though the education was much better.

-No word on financial aid yet?- I asked her

-Not yet. They said I should hear tomorrow-

-Good luck-

-You too, try not to worry-

I wouldn't be worrying, but she didn't need to know that. I scrolled through Facebook and Tumblr for a few minutes, before going back to my book, trusting that my computer would beep if anything important happened. I knew I didn't have to worry about tomorrow, but that didn't mean I was looking forward to it and it was nice to escape into a book for awhile.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Mom burst into my room bright and early the next morning. "Happy birthday!" she greeted me as I groaned and tried to roll back over and go back to sleep. The sun was nowhere near up yet. "C'mon darling, you can go back to sleep after the ceremony," she promised me. I groaned again at her as I rolled myself out of bed. It was only 2am. Mom left me to dress in the dress she had set out. I had complained vehemently, but she insisted it was tradition and I had to wear a dress.

My brothers were so going to make fun of me…

I trudged downstairs, feeling extremely awkward in the stupid dress. And heels. Why on earth did I need to wear heels? I'd never worn heels in my life. I wanted my converse back. Mom glared at me like she was reading my mind. I tried to put on a smile, but I knew I wasn't succeeding.

I stayed half-asleep through the car ride. It wasn't terribly far to the choosing, but it was 2am and I was tired. I hadn't gone to bed until midnight. For some reason mom failed to inform me that I would have to get up at 2 and I had therefore been up late talking to Lissa.

We arrived at 3am, as ordered, according to mom. "Don't worry, Sam, it'll all be over soon," she reminded me as we got out of the car. She gave me a quick hug. There were a few other kids getting out of cars nearby. I saw a familiar face and tried not to groan. I hadn't realized that any other shifters had birthdays today. "Oh, I didn't realize that Caleb would turn 15 before school started," mom commented.

Caleb Silverwolf was tall, athletic, handsome, and a wolf shifter. His family was from one of the strongest tribes in the area. He was also the firstborn son. I had a feeling that dad eventually wanted me to marry him, or at least consider him, but he wouldn't say so to me. I didn't want to deal with this either. I had met Caleb before, plenty of times, we’d basically grown up together. I couldn’t remember him ever seeing me in a dress before, though, just what I needed. I tried to hide behind my dad, but Caleb's father saw us and walked over.

"Good morning," he greeted us as he, and Caleb, came over. Caleb looked over me appraisingly and gave me a smile, almost a grin. He liked what he saw, so he could make fun of me for it later when our parents weren’t watching. 

"Morning," my father replied gruffly. He didn't want to be up this early either. "We should go inside and get this over with. It's not like either of them can be Chosen," Mr. Silverwolf inclined his head.

"Yes, but unfortunately, the tradeoff for not being outed as shifters, is that we must jump through the same hoops as the humans," Mr. Silverwolf replied. He turned with Caleb, who gave me another grin, and headed through the open arched outer gates. The Academy was a giant gothic manor. It was hard to figure exactly what it looked like at this time of night. There weren't many lights lit outside, but there were enough to make out the path up to the school. I stayed close to my parents, nervous as we walked up the gravel road to the school. One of the teachers met all of us at the main entrance. She was pale, thin and gorgeous. She only looked to be in her 20s, but I had the feeling that she was much older than that.

"Good evening. Welcome to Aiela Academy. The Choosing will begin shortly. Please follow me," she turned and led us all inside. My parents looked calm. They had been through this a few times before already, and I was in no danger. We were led just off of the main hallway into what appeared to be a conference room. We were all bid to sit, and I took a chair between my parents, glad for my father's strength beside me. Caleb and his father sat in the same row with us. The same teacher stood before us again. "I know this is an inconvenient time for all of you, so we will get right to the proceedings. We will call each of your children up to the stage. One adult may join them. We will step off to a side room where the Choosing will take place. The verdict for each child will be announced here," she explained swiftly. Most of those gathered nodded along, either remembering their own Choosing, or had been through this with their own child already.

A few kids were called up before me. Only a terrified-looking pale girl was Chosen. She and her parents were escorted to a different room after that. The girl was crying. After that, the kids looked even more scared. "Caleb Silverwolf," the teacher called. Caleb and his father walked up confidently to the stage. I wasn't surprised when they came back quickly. Caleb wasn't Chosen.

"Samantha Lykos," I stood and smoothed out my skirt as my father and I walked toward the stage. I nervously took the steps up, trying to make sure I didn't trip. Usually my balance was very good, but these heels were really throwing me off. "Right this way, dear. No need to be nervous," the teacher, even more beautiful up close, led us with her cat-walk like lope to the room right off the stage. It was a small room with a desk, two chairs on one side, and a chair inhabited by an even older-feeling woman, though again, she only looked to be in her thirties.

"Welcome, Mr. Lykos, Miss Lykos," she greeted us, indicating that we should take a seat. I sat nervously, with dad following a moment behind. "I am the Headmistress of Aiela Academy. Don't worry, dear, it only hurts for a moment," she promised me. She took my hand gently and flipped it so my palm was up. With an extremely well-sharpened nail, she punctured one of my fingers, releasing a drop of blood, which she gently licked away. I was grossed-out for an instant, and stiffened, my instincts wanting to fight her. My father put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. The headmistress looked surprised.

"It is unprecedented, my dear, but I am afraid I must inform you that you are one of us. You have been Chosen,"

 


	4. Chapter 4

My father stood instantly, snarling, his fangs bared. He looked close to losing control of his wolf. That was not a good sign from an alpha wolf. I had never seen him this out of control. Ever. I'd seen him in council meetings. I'd seen him in the same room with the other alphas. He'd never been this angry and out of control. "She cannot be Chosen," he snarled at the headmistress. She just looked sad. She didn't seem afraid of an alpha's outburst. She was probably used to outbursts from upset parents. I sat rooted where I was, my hands clenched in my lap nervously. This was supposed to be impossible. I didn't understand how it had happened. I knew it had, but that information wasn't catching up to my brain.

"I know it is not the outcome you had desired. However, the fact remains. Samantha has been Chosen. She will be one of us. If you take her from here now, like you obviously desire to do, she will die. This is not what Samantha needs right now. She needs to be welcomed into our ranks. She needs your support. Due to her status in your society, we will work with you and your wife to determine what arrangements need to be made to appease the shifters. I also suggest you contact the other shifters to make sure that all of their children are tested. If one has been found to be Chosen, there could be others,"

"There has to be a mistake," my father insisted. "Shifters cannot be Chosen. That has always been the rule," the headmistress nodded sagely.

"I wish that were still true, but I have never been wrong, and I am not wrong now. Now, let us get Samantha settled in at the school. We will work the rest of the details out later," the headmistress stood and showed us to the door, obviously dismissing us. The first teacher nodded and gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, dear, it will all be ok," she promised me. I had the feeling she had had to reassure many teens that everything would be ok. I didn't see how anything would be ok at the moment. This was not supposed to happen. I was supposed to go home and break the news to my parents that I had chosen St. Ignatius instead of St. Xavier. I wasn't supposed to be Chosen. It wasn't supposed to be possible. We walked back out on the stage and the teacher went to the microphone. "Samantha Lykos has been Chosen," she announced to the crowd. My mom rushed to the stage in disbelief. I saw the looks of shock and horror on Caleb and his father's faces. They knew the problem. No one else here knew that I was a shifter and this should be impossible, but they knew. Caleb looked horrified and like he wanted to rush the stage too. I tried to give him a reassuring smile. I didn't realize how much my shifter friends meant until I knew I was going to be separated from them. Even if he was supposed to be trying to court me.

Once my mother had reached the stage, one of the teachers led us to the other side of the stage while the next student was called up. It still hadn't quite sunk in what happened. We were led to a small conference room with the other couple of kids Chosen. They were all looking as nervous as I felt. I didn't know what happened after someone was Chosen. I never had to worry about it. It wasn't supposed to be possible for me to be Chosen, so I hadn't actually bothered to look up or care about the consequences of being Chosen. I had been too busy focusing out how to get away from my controlling family. I guess I would be away from them. There was another boy brought in before the headmistress joined us.

"Good evening, new Apprentices. As you all are aware, you have been Chosen to join us here at Aiela Academy. I know this is very confusing and difficult to accept. All of the teachers will be willing and able to help you adjust to your new role as an Apprentice of this academy. You will be allowed to go home and pack a few things that you will need for your time here. You will be escorted there and back. I pray you do not try to escape your fate. Classes will begin on the 1st of September, however, you will be spending the rest of your summer break here, adjusting to your new role. Before I take any questions, I will answer the obvious first: Aiela Academy does train those who will become vampires,"


	5. Chapter 5

"Yes. This school trains those who will become vampires," the headmistress repeated. No one quite wanted to believe that she was right, or telling the truth. None of the human parents really wanted to believe that the vampires were real. Sure, everyone knew about them. Plenty of celebrities were vampires. They didn't interact too terribly much with the humans, though, not at an everyday level anyway. From what I understood of it, the vampires were a subspecies of humans, kind of like the shapeshifters. It was something you were born into. Vampires could breed, and their children were always vampires, just like the shapeshifters. Vampires could also be produced from the general population. Which is how the Choosing came to be. "There are four grades in this Academy, just like a normal high school. At the end of your final year, you will be initiated as a full vampire. At that time, you will no longer need to be constantly surrounded by full vampires to avoid rejecting the change. This is another point I must stress: if you leave this Academy for more than the time we allow for school breaks, your body will reject the change and you will die," I wasn't expecting the headmistress to be so blunt about it. I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was important information.

"Isn't it true that their bodies can reject the change even if they stay here?" an angry parent demanded from the back. I could tell from his tone that he was taking the news about as poorly as my own father. At least my father had a really good reason to be upset.

The headmistress paused. She didn't want to talk about this subject. "Yes. It is true. It is a very rare occurrence. I must stress, that your children are safest in our care. I know it is not the news you want, but it is the truth, and it is best if you accept it now," she informed the upset parents. I think the kids were all in shock like I was. I should've paid more attention to the questions being asked, but they were all logistics questions, and that wasn't too important to me. "All of the others have left now. You may all go with your vampire escort to collect things for your children," the headmistress told us. I stood and went back to my parents. Mom pulled me into a hug.

"It'll be ok," she promised me. The trip home was in awkward silence. We had the biggest burliest non-shifter I had ever seen accompany us. I had a feeling they thought I was the biggest flight risk. Even my parents knew that I would die if I didn't stay with the vampires, now that I had been Chosen.

Mom woke my brothers as soon as we walked in the door. She let my father explain things to them while the vampire, mom, and I went upstairs to pack. "She only needs a few outfits for weekends," the vampire informed us. "Uniforms for classes will be provided at the Academy. School books and supplies will also be provided," he added. I gathered a few of my favorite books, underclothes, a couple of outfits, my phone and charger, laptop and charger, and looked around the room, wondering what else I would need. Mom placed a family picture in my bag and I grabbed the stuffed wolf I had slept with since I was born. "If anything was missed, it can be sent along later," the vampire reassured my mom. She nodded, but still looked worried. I hefted my bag onto my shoulder and went downstairs to see the boys. My brothers were just as furious with this situation as my father. Seth grabbed me and hugged me as soon as he saw me.

"We won't let the vampires take you," he insisted.

"She must go to the Academy or she will die," the vampire insisted, pulling me roughly from Seth's embrace. I yelped and wrenched myself from the vampire as Dave and Dan instantly shifted forms into wolves to snarl at the vampire. They pushed me behind them, towards Eric, who pulled me protectively into his arms.

My father snarled and all of my brothers stopped what they were doing to look at him. "Samantha will go to Aiela Academy. There is nothing we can do about that. We will tell the other shifters what happened, to make sure all of their children are tested. We will work out an arrangement with the school so we will be able to see Sam more than the other students get to leave the school," he told the boys. Dan and Dave whined. Eric hugged me even more protectively.

"Dad, you can't let her go with them-" he started. My father held up a hand.

"She will die if she does not," he reminded them. They finally gave up then. They looked so hopeless. They had taken the task of protecting me upon themselves. Now they couldn't help me at all, much less protect me.

"Say your goodbyes," the vampire instructed. "We must return to the Academy," he insisted. There were lots of tears as the goodbyes were said. My father would be coming back with us to coordinate with the Academy. Mom was the one who hugged me last.

"We'll see you soon," she promised me. "This will always be your home, no matter what happens," she added. I nodded.

"Thanks mom," I told her with tears in my eyes. I felt bad for how annoyed I'd been with her for the last couple of weeks. I knew I would miss them all terribly, now that I had to leave them. The vampire took my bag as we headed back to the car so we could go back to the Academy, my new home for the next four years.


	6. Chapter 6

When we got back to the school, the vampire lifted my bags out of the car and led us back up to the main building. I was still shocked and overwhelmed, but I knew I had to just keep going through the motions and pray that everything would work out. I was grateful for my daddy's presence. His overprotectiveness was working to my benefit for once. Everyone was giving us proper distance, and none of the vampires wanted to stare at an Alpha for very long. They didn't seem to like his presence.

The headmistress met us at the entrance. "Mr. and Miss Lykos, welcome to Aiela Academy. Orientation for parents is down the hall to the left with Professor Cast. Orientation for new students is down the hall to the right. Orientation will last for about an hour. Your things will be brought up to your room. After Orientation, you will be allowed to say your goodbyes," the headmistress explained. "Mr. Lykos, before Orientation, would you come with me so we can discuss the accommodations we need to make to maintain our relationship with the Shifters?" My father nodded, but he looked at me, concerned. He didn't like leaving me alone, especially in a room full of strange vampires. "I assure you that your daughter is safe in the Academy, Mr. Lykos," he hesitated one more moment before he went off with the headmistress. One of the other professors stepped up to take over the headmistress' job.

"Your orientation is just down the hall," she informed me, pointing down the hallway. "Professor Rhodes is waiting outside the classroom for you," she gave me a reassuring smile. I nodded, nervously twining my hands in front of me.

"Thank you," I told her politely. I turned to head down the hall, nervous, but knowing that I needed to go to Orientation. I also knew I was being watched by the vampires. The Academy was impressive and huge, with well-lit corridors and portraits on the walls. It wasn't far to the classroom Orientation was being held in. There was a vampire woman waiting outside of the classroom.

"What is your name, dear?" she asked me. She was holding a clipboard to check off names.

"Samantha Lykos," I told her, trying not to stutter out of nervousness. She looked down her list and checked off my name. She gave me a big smile.

"You're the Shifter," she told me unnecessarily. Of course I knew that I was a shapeshifter. I knew that this was the first time a Shifter had been Chosen, though. I didn't want to be a celebrity. I didn't want to be singled out, just because I happened to be born different than the rest of the people here. "I've never met a shifter before. I apologize for being so excited," she told me with a grin. "I just graduated a few years ago, from Aiela University," she continued to explain. LIke all of the vampires I had seen so far, she was very pale. She was thin, too, but seemed younger than the others. It made a lot of sense, since she had just said she was only a few years older than I was, if she had only now graduated from University. She shook her head as if she needed to clear it. "Sorry about that. I get a little overexcited. Welcome to Aiela Academy, Miss Lykos," she told me and directed me inside the classroom. There were five of us in total, 3 girls and 2 boys. I tried to smile at them. They all looked as nervous as I felt. One of the girls was perfect and blonde, a preppy type. The other looked like a nerd. The two boys looked like jocks. There were only five chairs, so I took the last one, feeling scared. Professor Rhodes, the vampire girl from outside the classroom door joined us. She stood in front of us and smiled.

"Again, I would like to welcome you all to Aiela Academy. I am Professor Rhodes. I am a new graduate from Aiela University and am in training to teach here," she explained to us. "I know it is all very confusing to you right now, but through your studies here, you will learn to appreciate the gifts you have been given," she let this sink in.

"What gifts?!" the preppy blonde girl demanded. "We've been taken from our homes and families and lives!" she exclaimed, the perfect image of an entitled spoiled girl.

"As you will learn," Professor Rhodes replied calmly, "Vampires are immortal. There is plenty you will be able to do with that gift alone. You will see your families again. I promise it is not as dreary as it seems at the moment. Most of the students are not here now, in fact. Classes will begin on September 1st. You will study all of the normal high school classes, as well as learning about what it means to be a vampire. I must warn you again that unless you are surrounded by Master-level vampires, your bodies will reject the change and you will die. Your bodies will change over the next four years that you are here. You will learn more about that later. Once you have graduated, however, you will be able to live among humans again if that is what you wish," she told us, trying to make the news sound less dismal than it was. "You also will get to keep your cell phones and computers, so you will be able to contact your families during your free time," she reassured everyone. I was sure my father would insist on more contact than that. "There are four grades here, just like in a normal high school. After Orientation, you will receive the Academy pendant," she lifted the hourglass pendant she wore on a chain around her neck. "Every Academy uses the pendant. It will mark you as a vampire to anyone who sees you. There is a severe penalty for any human caught trying to copy the design. Until you have graduated your pendants will be silver," her pendant was gold. "Apprentices have no sand in their hourglass. Neophytes, or second years, have all of the glass in the top of their hourglasses. Novices have their sand distributed evenly and Journeymen have their sand entirely at the bottom. Right now, we are on night schedule, since the Elder vampires do not like daylight. Vampires can be out in the daylight. Elder vampires get migraines and physical pain because of the sun. When classes start, we will switch back to day schedule for the students and parents. There are two dorms, one for boys and one for girls. Unfortunately, as Apprentices, your rooms will be on the top floor of the dorms,"

All five of us were pretty dazed by this point. We were getting a lot of information all at once. "We're going to head down the hall now to get your class schedules, then uniforms, you'll see your parents again, then a tour of the campus before bed for the day," she told us quickly. "Let's get started," We all stood and headed further down the hallway, following her to the next classroom, where five vampires were waiting for us at desks around the room. They each called one of us and I headed toward an asian vampire woman. She was tiny and perfect and obviously asian, but I knew she was much more dangerous than she appeared.

"So you are the alpha's daughter," she greeted me as I sat down in front of her. I nodded shyly. "I am Professor Kinoshita,"

"It is a pleasure to meet you," I replied. She seemed so nice and welcoming, that I felt myself relaxing, even though she was a vampire. She opened the file folder in front of her.

"So I see you've had decent grades," she told me, looking over my transcripts. I had never been the best student, but I maintained good enough grades to appease my parents. "And I feel like you have the potential to do well here," she smiled at me. "I know the alpha demands structure and commitment. We demand excellence here as well. There are two tracks, however, one for honors students, and a normal track for those whose skills are not necessarily academic. It will be difficult, but I feel like you should be placed in the honors classes, as that will offer you the best options for your future," she told me. I nodded again, worried, but feeling like I would be able to handle the honors classes she was suggesting. She looked at the laptop next to her and filled out part of a class chart. "You will also need a foreign language and a physical activity class," she informed me. "Have you participated in any sports?"

"No, ma'am," I replied. It had been seen as an unfair advantage for me to be in sports, since I was more physically fit than any of the other students. "I have studied karate with my brothers for almost 10 years, though," I told her. She smiled and scribbled something else down.

"We have a karate class that will fulfill the physical education requirement," she offered with a smile. I grinned. That would at least be something I knew.

"That sounds perfect!" I told her, relieved that something would be familiar here. She smiled again.

"Do you have any interest in a particular foreign language? I would suggest Japanese, since you already have the foundation, through your karate studies. However, I am particular to the subject, since I teach it,"

"I think that is a good idea," I agreed with her. Again, it would be something familiar.

"Excellent," she smiled and began typing at her laptop. "You're schedule's all set. You can pick up a copy on your way out," she indicated the printer by the door. "Everything will also be available online. The school will provide you with a laptop if you did not bring your own,"

"I brought one," I told her, glad that I had. I was more comfortable with my own technology. She nodded.

"I will see you in class, alpha's daughter," she bid me and the meeting was over. All of the others were getting out of their meetings too. I headed toward the door to pick up my schedule. It didn't look terrible, but I didn't have to worry about it for another week. It was a strange system we had going here, but none of the schools seemed too upset that they didn't know how many freshmen they had until a week before classes started. I looked over the schedule more carefully, just to see what I was in for:

8:00 Honors English

9:00 Honors Geometry

10:00 Honors Biology

11:00 Honors Modern History

12:00 Lunch

1:00 Apprentice

2:00 Japanese 1

3:00 Karate

4:00 Club

"Every student must be a part of a club. During the first week of classes, there will be a club fair to show off all of the club options," Professor Rhodes explained to us as we looked over our class schedules. The preppy blonde girl was busy complaining that she didn't get into the honors program and was trying to demand that someone fix it. I smiled. I didn't like preppy girls, and was glad that I had managed to have good enough grades to get into honors. Now I just had to be able to stay there. "Next stop is uniforms," Professor Rhodes led us to the next classroom again. "Boys, please go with Professor McCullen," a male professor was there to lead the boys to another classroom to get their uniforms. Professor Rhodes turned to address us again. "Uniforms are required at all times while on school property. The clothes you brought with you are only for the event that you must leave campus," she explained. I wasn't looking forward to uniforms. "Evening and weekend wear will also be provided by the school," she added. There were four changing rooms set up in this classroom somehow, which seemed crazy to me, but whatever worked for the vampires. The woman in charge of the uniforms handed me an armful of clothes to try on. I changed carefully, not sure on the sizes. I ended up with a button-up long sleeved white shirt, a purple and black plaid skirt, which hit 3 inches above my knee, a purple and black striped tie, black sweater-vest with purple trim, black knee socks, black shoes, and a black blazer with the school emblem on it.

"Wear this uniform now. The rest will be sent up to your room. You will have 6 sets of uniforms, 3 sets of weekend wear, and 7 pair of pajamas. Since you are in karate, your gi will be there as well," the uniform woman informed me. The other girls were dressed identically as I was. Professor Rhodes smiled at us.

"I know it seems uncomfortable now, but it will be a relief not having to worry about what to wear in the mornings," she tried to reassure us. I was uncomfortable in a skirt, but I knew I would have to deal with it. "We have one more stop before you reunite with your families," she informed us. We collected the boys, who were in the same uniforms, except they had black pants instead of skirts, and headed to the headmistress' office. She was waiting for all of us, with five hourglass pendants on her desk.

"These pendants are symbols of your joining this Academy, and the ranks of the vampires. Only the vampires are allowed to wear them. Do not sell your pendant, or give it to a human under any circumstances. The penalties are very high for such an act. First, Miss Lykos," I stepped forward and she held up one of the silver hourglasses. "I formally welcome you to Aiela Academy. With this pendant you begin your studies and join us as an Apprentice vampire. Welcome, Apprentice Lykos," I carefully took the pendant from her, and clasped the silver chain around my neck, so the hourglass hung in plain view. Each of the others were given their hourglasses by the headmistress, before we were finally allowed to see our families again.

 


	7. Chapter 7

We finally made it back to where our families were gathered. Daddy looked like he was trying not to cry when he saw me in my uniform. I realized that he must be thinking I was growing up. He pulled me into a hug when I reached him. It was rare of him to show such emotion. "It'll be ok, daddy," I promised him this time. "I got into the honors section," I told him. This was a normal conversation. It was something he could appreciate and was something he kept after the boys to do.

"I'm proud of you, Sam," he told me softly. I breathed in his scent, wrapped safely in his arms. He smelled of forest, wolf, and a scent that was just him, just my daddy. He finally let me go and looked me over. "The headmistress has made some accommodations for you," he told me, addressing me like an adult for the first time in his life. I think he was finally accepting that I was growing up.  I just wanted to go back to the way things had been. "You will come home every weekend after classes begin. You will not have to have a roommate. They have also ensured that you will be able to shift forms enough." Shifters had to change forms at least once a week to be psychologically stable. It was still safe, but disconcerting to go two weeks without shifting, but any longer than that was just torture. The moon held no effect on us, but it was nice to go out on moonlit evenings. "The school has a large forest they own, and have agreed that you may use it in the evenings as long as you check in and out of the dorm when you do so. If you are going to roam the woods, we will be able to come with you, so I expect you to call us or your brothers,"

"Yes, daddy," I told him, knowing the amount of freedom I was being given was unprecedented. I wasn't going to blow it by being irresponsible.

"Keep your phone on you at all times. We will check in with you every day," he insisted. I nodded again. My phone was in my skirt pocket. It never left my side. He hugged me again. "We'll see you next Saturday," he promised. I knew it was hard for him to leave me here, but we all knew that there was no choice. "I love you, kitten," I smiled, he'd been calling me that since the first time I'd ever turned into a cat, when I was 5.  My family usually all turned into wolves, but other forms were possible.

"I love you too, daddy," with that, he had to leave, and we had more orientation to go through. Professor Rhodes took over again while I was trying not to cry. She gave us a tour of the campus, including the main academic building. The tour finally ended with at the dorms. Professor McCullen led the boys to their dorm.

"Boys are not allowed in the girls dorm and vice versa after 8pm on school nights, 9pm on weekends. There is a common room in the main academic building that both sexes can use," Professor Rhodes explained to us as she led us into the dorm. There was only one entrance, with a secretary behind it. "New students," she explained to the secretary, who nodded, seeming a bit bored. She did hand 3 keys over to Professor Rhodes, though. "This way, ladies," she led us up four flights of stairs to a hallway of identical doors. She handed me a key. "You're in 425," she pointed at a door with the number printed on it. "You two are in 426," she handed the other two girls their keys.

"Why does she get her own room? My father will hear about this!" complained the preppy blonde girl loudly.

"She needs her own room. You need to learn to share what you have. Your father is well aware that you will have a roommate," Professor Rhodes said blandly.

"My father is much more important than hers. He's the mayor," she continued complaining, obviously expecting that would get her out of having to share a room. The other girl was just looking shy and scared.

"I know he is. This decision is final, Apprentice," Professor Rhodes reminded the girl. She obviously wasn't impressed by the girl's status.

"I'm much more important!" she tried yet again, the epitome of a spoiled brat.

"She is the Alpha's daughter," Professor Rhodes explained, seemingly bored. The girls gasped and stepped back. Shifters were feared. Everyone knew of their power. I also assumed that parents warned their children about how dangerous Shifters were. "I think you should all unpack and get some sleep. Until classes start, everyone is still on night schedule and will not be awake until dusk," she left us alone then and I ducked into my room as fast as possible. I didn't want to have the awkward conversation with those two girls I didn't know, and who already didn't like me. I locked my door behind me, not wanting to be barged in on. The room was simple, just a bed, desk, closet, and dresser. The bed was covered in clothes and my bags. I quickly put everything away, making sure to be careful. I set up my laptop on the desk and got everything organized as well as I could before finding my pajamas and falling back into bed. Too much had happened for as little sleep as I had gotten last night.


	8. Chapter 8

I didn't wake until around 5 that evening. My stomach was growling. I needed to eat something soon. Shifters needed more food than normal humans, since shifting took up so much energy. I wondered why mom hadn't woken me up by now, but then I remembered where I was. I sat up slowly, still not quite believing it until the empty silver hourglass fell down to land on my chest. I lifted it to look at it closer. The hourglass itself was the size of my thumb with the school crest stamped on the bottom. It would be very noticeable, which was no doubt its purpose.

My phone was flashing from my nightstand. I wondered how I hadn't heard it go off earlier. I must've been really tired to have slept through my phone. It was my lifeline. I picked it up to check what I had missed. I had a message from mom. She was worried about me already. I called her back first. It was a conversation full of oks on my part, but it appeased her and her worry. I hadn't even been gone 24 hours and she was already worried. I realized I'd never truly spent the night away from home, though. I'd spent nights away, but they were always at the homes of the other shifters, with my brothers hanging out with their friends in the next room over.

The rest of the texts and Facebook messages were from shifters wondering what was going on. We were all a tight-knit community. Lissa was the first who had contacted me. I sent her a long email explaining everything that had happened so far. I noticed Caleb was among those who had contacted me. He was extremely polite, but expressed concern that I was ok. The shifter boys tended to be very over protective of the shifter girls, even if the girls weren't theirs to claim.

My stomach growled again, pulling me from thoughts of my family and extended family of shifters. I was alone with the vampires now. I saw that there was a folder that had been slid under my door. I padded across the soft carpet and picked up the envelope. Inside was a schedule of events for the next few days until classes started. Breakfast would be served starting at 6pm with activities and sports try-outs for the Apprentices all evening. There was also a note from Professor Kinoshita stating that belt tests would be held at 10pm. I knew I needed to be there for that at least.

I quickly made sure that all of my things were put away properly. I had been too exhausted last night to do it properly, then. Once that was settled, I looked around the room and found a door I hadn't yet opened. I opened it carefully and saw that I had my own bathroom. There was no other way into the room, I checked and was relieved. Sharing a bathroom now was something I really didn't want to do. I hadn't had to at home, and thankfully I wouldn't have to here either. I moved all of my toiletries into the bathroom and quickly got a shower. I dressed in my uniform carefully, and folded my gi and the white belt I had been given into the school-provided duffle bag. I didn't want to have to run up here after breakfast and the first Apprentice activities and before the belt test. I also threw a few pens and a notebook just in case. I was scared to head down to breakfast. I knew that I was alone here. I wasn't expecting much support from my fellow students.

I made my way downstairs, trying to appear confident, when all I felt was fear. I was used to the laughter and jokes of my brothers. They weren't here. I had my phone in my pocket, but that wasn't reassuring enough. I made my way alone down to the cafeteria. I'm sure the school had a fancy name for it, like they did for everything else, but it was a cafeteria nonetheless. There weren't many students here, yet, but it smelled like breakfast, which was enough to make me happy at the moment. I headed towards the food line and got a plate of pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, and coffee. My tray looked huge compared to the other girls. I felt even more self conscious and took a table by myself by the windows, feeling alone and unwanted for the first time ever.

More people began filtering in as the evening continued. They seemed to have already made groups and were sitting together. The new preppy blonde girl from yesterday had found some other popular looking kids to hang out with. The shy nerdy girl followed in behind her. _You should try to make friends,_ I heard my mom's voice in my head. It wasn't her real voice, but I knew it's the advice she would give in this situation. I wasn't sure, however, if anyone would even want to be my friend. Shifters were often feared by those who didn't understand that we could control the animals inside. Vampires generally didn't like us on principle, but a treaty had been created with the vampires years ago for equal tolerance and the two groups were actually starting to like each other and cooperate towards convincing the humans to like both groups.

The shy girl was looking for a place to sit. It was obvious she wasn't going to be welcome with her roommate. I looked up at her and, screwing up what little courage I had, waved to her. She ignored me to go sit at a different table by herself. I put my hand back down, my face flushing and feeling dejected.

I hoped the rest of my time here didn't go this terribly.


	9. Chapter 9

The first activity for the Apprentices was an orientation of sorts. We were supposed to meet in the auditorium. I realized everyone here was an Apprentice. None of the students had any sand in their hourglasses. I wondered what was going on with that, but couldn't do anything to find out without tapping into my shifting abilities, which didn't seem like a good idea at the moment. I stood and tried to leave without drawing too much attention to myself. Unfortunately, as soon as I stood whispers began spreading across the cafeteria like wildfire. I tried ignoring them and just dropped off my tray and left, feeling like the biggest freak in the school of freaks. I was tempted to pull out my cell and text someone about how miserable I was so far, but I knew that wouldn't help anything.

I made my way to the auditorium and found a seat at the very back to sit in. I was hoping the whispers wouldn't follow me here. Slowly some of the other Apprentices came to join me, but they all sat up at the front of the auditorium. Professor Rhodes took the stage. "I hope you are all acclimating well to the Academy. I know this is the first evening here for some of you. As you all should be aware, there have been Choosings happening all summer in preparation for the new school year. The last Choosing for the year occurred early this morning with 5 new Apprentices joining our ranks. Between the Vampire born students and those Chosen, there are 100 new Apprentices this year. The rest of the students will be rejoining us on Saturday. I encourage you all to make friends among the Apprentices, and to seek guidance and mentorships from the upper level students, especially the Journeymen, as they will be most likely to be able to help you with your studies and learn how everything works around here. If you need suggestions of who would be a good mentor for you, please feel free to ask any of your Professors once classes start. A copy of the school rule book will be delivered to all of your dorm rooms. Please read over the rules before classes begin. Aside from that, there are sports try-outs this evening and an opportunity to meet with your fellow Apprentices. If you have any questions or problems, please let one of the Professors know." With that, she left us to our own devices. I checked the time on my phone. There wasn't much time before the belt test, so I headed over to the gym to get ready. At least sitting in the back of the auditorium, I could sneak out before any of the other students noticed me and could start whispering again. I ducked outside as quickly as possible and made my way to the gym across the open field of the campus. Professor Kinoshita was waiting inside.

"There's a changing room downstairs, Apprentice Lykos," she told me when I entered. I gave her a small bow and headed downstairs to change. There were lockers for our bags and clothes, but no locks for the locker doors. I worried about my things, especially with how I'd been treated so far, but I had no option except to use the locker. I stowed my things carefully and locked my phone, praying that it would be ok. I had changed into my gi quickly, and tied my white belt with practice. When my father had taught me karate, he had taught it properly.

I made my way back upstairs where the other Apprentices in the karate class were warming up. I joined them, noting how good it felt to stretch again. I was feeling stressed, and that was making my inner wolf want to stretch her legs again. It wasn't long until the testing began. It was a long grueling process. We were tested on kata, or forms, which moves we knew, sparring techniques, everything. After two hours, when the testing was finally over, we waited for Professor Kinoshita's determination of our belts. There were about 10 others in the class. I was the only one who'd had more than a few months of karate lessons. One of the boys received a blue belt, a couple received yellow belts. The preppy blonde girl, whose name I really needed to learn at some point, didn't get a belt, which made her grumble and glare.

"Apprentice Lykos," I stood and went to Professor Kinoshita, hoping I had done well enough. "I present you with a black belt," I wasn't surprised. I had been studying for 10 years. I had already earned my black belt under my father's teaching. I took the belt from her and bowed, much more deeply. I heard grumblings from the other students. "The rest of you are dismissed. I will see you in class on Monday," the others left, still grumbling. I tried to hide my feelings about how my fellow students were treating me. Why couldn't they see past the fact that I was a shifter? I hadn't even shifted since I'd been here. "How long have you studied?" Professor Kinoshita asked me.

"Since I was 6, Professor," I replied, wondering where this was going. She smiled.

"I'm glad to hear it. The black belts in my class are expected to help their Kohai," she told me. I was familiar with the term. It was Japanese for underclassmen. I nodded.

"I will do my duty as a black belt," I confirmed. I knew what was expected, and had even begun teaching my younger cousin, Abi, before I had been Chosen. My uncle had wanted her to learn how to protect herself, but didn't want her learning in a traditional dojo, just as my father had wanted the same thing, so it had become my job to teach her.

"Good. You are dismissed," I headed downstairs to change into my uniform, only to find my locker open and my clothes strewn in tatters all over the floor. My phone was smashed on the floor as well.

<Shifters don't belong. Go home Bitch!> Was written on the locker door in red lipstick.

I picked up my poor destroyed phone, in disbelief. Why would anyone do this? I fell to my knees, sobbing. I didn't know when I had started crying, but once I had, I couldn't stop. Why couldn't anything go according to plan? Why was everything turning out so terribly? I hadn't done anything wrong. I hadn't hurt anyone.

 


	10. Chapter 10

I heard footsteps coming down the stairs and tried to wipe away my tears, but it was no use. I looked up to see Professor Rhodes, Professor Kinoshita, and the headmistress. Behind them was the preppy blonde girl. Professor Rhodes came to me first and knelt down beside me. "Samantha, are you ok?" she asked me. I roughly tried to wipe away my tears again and gave her a small nod. "You're not injured?" I nodded again. She smiled at me. "Good. Don't worry, now," she helped me back to my feet and looked over the damage.

"It wasn't me!" the preppy blonde girl shrieked, stamping her foot.

The headmistress stepped towards me, ignoring the shrieking girl. "Apprentice Lykos, I sincerely apologize that this was allowed to happen to you. The vampires and vampires-in-training are held to very high expectations of their conduct. That is why there are no locks in the locker rooms, or on the hallway lockers in the school. It is understood that students will leave the belongings of the other students alone. Apprentice Chase has disregarded the expectations of her conduct. I have Sight over all things in this school, and know this to be true, Apprentice Chase. In a typical school, you would be expelled for what you have done. Harassment against any student is strictly forbidden and will not be tolerated in my school. Since this is a vampire Academy, and you would die outside of our walls, I cannot expel you," the preppy blonde girl had finally been looking scared and not like she was trying to fight the charge. "Instead, I will give you detention for the entire school year, the hours of which are at my discretion. Some of those hours will be performing community service for the shifter community. Vampire and shifters are just now beginning to have a peaceful relationship, and I will allow no vampires to threaten that relationship. Your fathers will both be notified of this incident. Apprentice Chase, your family will be in charge of paying the cost of a replacement phone, of equal model, for Apprentice Lykos. I am extremely disappointed in you. Never have we ever had any bullying or hazing problems here. I do not wish to start now." She glared at the preppy blonde girl, who still looked scared, but seemed relieved that it was only detention. I had a feeling her detention was going to be a lot worse than writing lines or cleaning chalkboards. The headmistress turned to me. "Apprentice Lykos, a replacement uniform will be sent to your dorm room later. I suggest you return to your room and change. I am sure your father will wish to take you to get a new phone today. Professor Rhodes, please escort Apprentice Chase to my office to continue this conversation further," Professor Rhodes left with the still seething preppy blonde girl. "Apprentice Lykos, I apologize again that this has happened. I ask that you come to my office once you have changed," I nodded, still shocked and hurt by what had happened. I was glad the culprit was caught. It all seemed a bit too easy, though. How had the headmistress caught the preppy girl so quickly? She said she had the Sight. I didn't doubt that. Vampires did have mental abilities, often called magic, ranging from seeing the future, communicating by thoughts with other vampires, and controlling the thoughts of humans among other things. Was the headmistress keeping an eye on me because of my father? Or had it been just some vampire sense which led her to See the preppy blonde girl in the act. I realized again that I really needed to bother learning their names. Even if they weren't going to be nice to me. They would know who I was. I should learn who they were too.

"I will walk you back to your dorm," Professor Kinoshita told me. I tried to refuse her offer, but she would have none of it. "I will not have the alpha saying that we did not protect his daughter. We promised you would be safe here," she added. I nodded and allowed her to walk with me back to my dorm room. It was a short walk. No one approached us, since I had a full vampire walking with me. I didn't realize how much I would miss my brothers and over protective family until they weren't around. Professor Kinoshita walked me all the way back to my dorm room and looked inside to make sure there was no vandalism here too. "Everything will be ok, dear, and I know you are able to protect yourself," she indicated my black belt.

"Thank you, Professor," she left me and I ducked inside my room to change into a clean uniform. I knew it wouldn't take long for my father to get here. I was sure he would be angry, too. I took my destroyed phone with me. He would want to see it too. I made my way down to the headmistress' office, dreading running into the preppy blonde girl. Luckily, Professor Rhodes was waiting outside the headmistress' office, and Professor Kinoshita was escorting my parents and Eric into the school. I rushed over to them and my mom pulled me into a hug.

"Are you ok?" she asked, concerned. I nodded, but still let her hug me, breathing in the scent of pack. "Good. We were so worried when we heard. Eric and I will be taking you to the phone store. Your father would like to have words with the headmistress and the girl responsible. I nodded and kissed my father on the cheek before leaving with my mom and eldest brother. I didn't know what to talk to them about. I wasn't getting along with anyone here. I told my mom I got into the honors classes, which I knew she would be proud of.

It wasn't far to the phone store at least, so I didn't have to talk about the other students. I saw a familiar car in the lot when we pulled up and tried not to groan. I didn't want to deal with him here. I saw them through the store's window: Caleb and his father.

 


	11. Chapter 11

I got out of the car, instantly flanked by Eric. My brothers were always so protective. I tugged down the hem of my skirt, wishing it was longer. I couldn't even think of a time Caleb had ever seen me in a skirt, much less a skirt this short. I also made sure the hourglass pendant was visible. That was one of the strictest rules about being off campus, the hourglass must remain visible at all times. I tugged the hem again, but couldn't make the skirt any longer than it was. I felt my cheeks turn red. I knew this would be the image of me Caleb held for a long long time.

We entered the store and my mom went to sign in so someone would actually help us. I saw Caleb and his father both turn to look at us. His father smiled and came over to greet my mom. It was only common curtesy. I felt my cheeks turn even more red as Caleb looked me over. He gave me a small smile, ensuring that I knew this would be the image he carried around with him for at least the rest of the evening. The workers looked us over. They saw my uniform and all seemed to stiffen. I had a feeling they didn't take kindly to vampires. "Sam, how is your new school?" Caleb asked me. He seemed shyer than usual. He was usually talkative and engaging, not shy and almost hiding behind his father, but then I usually looked like one of the guys.

"It's going ok," I told him vaguely. "I got into the honors program," it was the only safe bit of news I had to offer.

"Mrs. Lykos, what can I help you with?" one of the workers finally got the courage up to approach our group. I waved at Caleb as my mom went off with the worker.

"I'll see you later, Caleb, Mr. Silverwolf," I felt Caleb's eyes on my back as Eric and I headed over to look at the phones with mom. We explained quickly that my phone had been destroyed while at school and I needed a new one today. The nice clerk got us all set up and I had a brand new phone, even better than the one which was destroyed. I saw that Caleb was also getting a new phone. He came back over to us as soon as he had his phone.

"Um… Sam… It appears that I don't have your number. Would you mind-?" I nodded, wondering why he was suddenly so shy and rattled off my number for him. He typed it quickly in his phone and gave me a smile. "I'll be sure to keep in touch. I'm sure that new school of yours must be lonely," he told me. I nodded again.

"It'll be ok. The professors are nice, if nothing else," I confided to him, forgetting for the moment that there were other shifters in the room and that they would easily overhear us. My mom had been looking really happy that I was talking with an appropriate boy and that we seemed to be getting along. She looked distressed at my latest statement, though, and came back over to me as soon as she could get away from the salesman.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Silverwolf, Caleb, but Sam must be getting back to school," Eric was at my side again as my mom apologized for us. With that, she briskly led us out of the store. I waved to Caleb and followed her. "I thought this was a single incident," mom said as soon as we got back in the car.

"It _was_ , mom" I insisted. "No one else has done or tried to do anything to me. You know how shifters are treated by humans, though. They don't trust me yet. I just haven't gotten a chance to make friends yet," I told her, trying to sound sure that I would find friends. I wasn't sure on that point at all, but I needed to reassure my mom. She couldn't pull me from the school, but they could make trouble for the school if they thought I was in trouble. "It'll be easier to make friends once classes start," I insisted. I'd get to see the other students every day in a situation where they had to interact with me. Maybe it would be ok. Otherwise my parents were likely to take drastic measure to ensure my safety, and that wasn't a good thing. "I'm sure Daddy has everything sorted out with the school," I insisted.

"We just worry about you, dear. It's not proper to send you off to a boarding school, and it's not safe," mom insisted. Eric bristled. I think he felt the same way, but was trying to avoid the argument.

"I know, mom. I know it's not what you wanted, but I was Chosen. There's nothing we can do about it until I graduate," I reminded her. Vampires-in-training had to live at the Academy. I would die if I left their care. Mom nodded, but still looked grim and unhappy. "It'll be ok, mom," I promised her, and knew that I would have to try harder to convince her that everything was actually ok. Luckily, it wasn't far back to the school, so I didn't have to deal with her worrying for too long. I did have to deal with my father, however. When we got back to the school, we found out that he was still in his meeting with the headmistress. That couldn't be a good sign.

"I should join him. Sam, are you allowed to give Eric a tour of the school?" mom asked. I looked over to Professor Kinoshita, who nodded. I nodded to mom and headed off with Eric to show him around the school. I wondered what was going on in the meeting, but mom obviously didn't want me in on it.

"Whichever of us finds out what's going on in that meeting first has to tell the other," Eric told me.

"Deal," I replied, grinning up at him. Yes, he was always my caretaker, babysitter, protector, but he was still my brother too, and neither of us liked secrets. I showed him the gym and told him about my blackbelt. We saw a couple of classrooms and I took him up to my dorm room, after checking him in with the receptionist. Since he was my brother, and could prove he was related by his ID, or his ability to shapeshift, which he luckily didn't have to use, the receptionist let him come in to the girls' dorm and even up to my room. I opened the door and let him in. "It's not much," I admitted as he looked around. He took a seat at my desk and we chatted while we waited for the meeting to be over.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Eric and I got simultaneous texts from our father, asking where we were. I let Eric take point, as per usual, and his fingers flew across the screen as he texted dad back. "He wants us to come back to the main hall," Eric told me a moment later when his phone whistled again. I stood and checked for my key before letting Eric out of the room.

"You're not supposed to have boys in your room!" the preppy blonde girl yelled. I rolled my eyes. She was the most annoying girl I'd ever met. I hadn't done anything to her and she still seemed to hate me.

"He's my brother," I replied simply. She didn't need an explanation. The receptionist had allowed him to come up here. It was none of her business.

"You just want to sneak boys into your room. Slut!" she shrieked. I guessed she didn't like her punishment. She shouldn't have destroyed my things if she wasn't ready to accept the punishment for her actions. However, I heard a snarl from Eric. His eyes had turned amber and his teeth had elongated. He was losing control of his wolf. The stupid preppy blonde girl was getting herself in serious danger and was being too dense to realize it.

"Don't you _dare_ speak to, or about my sister that way," Eric snarled, crouching as his nails elongated and his ears started to turn fuzzy and longer, like his wolf's. The girl finally realized what was going on and took a step back, her scent racked with fear, inciting my own wolf. My wolf wanted to chase her, give her more fear to spice her blood. I shook that thought away. I had more pressing problems right now. Namely Eric. I stepped between him and the dumb blonde girl.

"I haven't done anything to you. I don't know why you're treating me like this. I don't even know your name, but I suggest you leave my family alone," I turned to Eric, turning my back on the girl. She wouldn't hurt me. She wasn't that dumb, not with a barely controlled wolf in the room. I needed to take care of the wolf. I pulled myself to my full height and looked him in the eyes. I pulled all of my strength into this task. I would need it. "Eric, it's ok. I'm fine. I'm not hurt. She is a human," I reminded him calmly. It was essential that I remain calm or he would completely lose control. "It's ok. I promise she can't hurt me," I spoke to him in soothing tones, ignoring the girl behind me and focusing only on helping Eric regain his control.

Luckily, I wasn't alone in this as my father burst down the hallway. "Eric!" he called in his commanding Alpha voice. Eric turned, still snarling. "Come!" my father ordered. He led Eric by sure force of his alpha will out of the dorm. Mom came over and hugged me.

"Are you ok?" she asked me. I nodded. "Your father felt Eric lose control. What happened?" I explained about the preppy blonde girl, who had taken the opportunity to disappear into her dorm room. Mom glared toward the door. "I hope she's learned her lesson this time. If not, she will once she has to do community service for the shifters. I'll make sure to mention this to the headmistress," she told me as we walked out of the dorm to find Eric and daddy. Eric had calmed down and was apologizing when we reached them.

"I feel even less sure about leaving you here," daddy told me as he pulled me in to a hug. "There's no one here to protect you, kitten," he kissed the top of my head.

"I know daddy, but I have to learn how to protect myself sometime," I told him. "I need to learn how to take care of myself. I'm doing the best I can so far," I had to convince him that I would be ok. I didn't know what drastic measures he would take if I didn't convince him, but I knew it would be bad. "I'm sure the other students aren't like her. It'll be easier once I make some friends," I insisted.

"She'll be fine," Eric spoke up, meeting daddy's eyes. "She was using Alpha strength to control my wolf when I lost control," he admitted. No male wolf would ever admit that a female had used any Alpha qualities. He had just done that. It was unheard of that a female could even demonstrate those abilities. Alphas were able to control the shifters under them. I had only ever heard of males having that ability. "I know it's unheard of, but she was doing it. She'll be fine here. If she can handle an out of control wolf, she can handle vampires in training," he insisted. He was sticking up for me. He was protecting me in his own way. He knew the humans, even if they were training to be vampires, couldn't hurt me. My father's plans could. So could the knowledge that I was displaying Alpha qualities.

"Are you sure?" daddy asked. Eric nodded solemnly.

"I swear it," I could hear the truth in those words. Shifters were extremely hard to lie to. We could smell the difference. It was a skill I was only beginning to learn. Daddy was an expert. He nodded, accepting Eric's truth. He sighed.

"Then it may be better that you are here away from the other shifters for awhile," he told me. "We'll have to figure out what to do," he voiced that to mom. "Try to make friends and stay out of trouble," he hugged me tighter. I let him, knowing that he was worried. It had been an exhausting day, and it wasn't even half-over yet. All I wanted to do was hide in my dorm room. Thankfully that was an option, even if it broke daddy's wishes of me finding friends.

"I'll try," I promised him. He smiled and maintained his eternal calm.

Unfortunately, they weren't allowed to stay. I was supposed to be mingling with the other Apprentices and full vampires, not hanging out with my family anymore. I waved to them sadly as they left, knowing the rest of my day would be just as difficult as the beginning.

 


	13. Chapter 13

I headed back down to the cafeteria to attend the Apprentice event. It was some kind of meet and greet for the new students. I was determined that I needed to find a friend before the end of the night. I was doomed if I couldn't find at least someone friendly in my grade. I hoped that there was at least someone here who would give me a chance, even if they were scared of shifters.

I entered the room, trying to stand proudly and confidently. They wouldn't like me if I was obviously scared of them. I was still hesitant when I entered the room. I just had to pretend that I was ok. People looked up from their groups when I came in. They then turned and went back to their groups, ignoring me. How was I supposed to make friends with everyone so obviously against me? I'd never had this issue before. I'd grown up surrounded by my brothers. They'd been my playmates. I was close enough with the other shifter girls to be sisters. I'd grown up surrounded by the shifters, who treated any shifter like family. When I had started elementary school, I met Lissa. I'd been more outgoing back then. I'd never known people not to like me. All of the shifters had, so why wouldn't the humans? I'd had to learn to hide what I was. Now I had to learn how to befriend vampires in training. I found a table to stand by, knowing that no one was going to come over, but hoping I could glean enough from nearby conversations to find someone to talk to.

I wasn't hearing anything promising. The boys at the next table over were talking about football. The girls on the other side were discussing some celebrity boy and complaining about the uniforms. I finally caught the conversation I was looking for: a few students were discussing the latest hit movie and how much it had differed from the book. I smiled at that and headed over to that table. The shy girl who was roommates with the mean girl was there with another girl and a couple of boys. They looked up when I approached and the shy girl flinched. I tried not to let it get to me. "Hi! I heard you guys talking about Labyrinth. Did you notice they left out the entire scene with the troll?" I asked, trying not to appear as scared as I felt. These kids were my best shot at making friends here. They smiled at me, even the shy girl and started going into a debate about whether that scene should've been cut or not. I slid into a seat while they were talking, proud of myself for striking up a conversation with them. I talked with them until dawn. The shy girl's name was Mary, the other girl was Sarah, the boys were Damon and Luc.

"Aren't you the wolf-girl?" Mary asked me as the full vampires were calling time for bed. I sighed, but knew that lying to them wouldn't help anything.

"Yes, I'm a Shifter," I told them, waiting to see their reaction. Sarah looked shocked.

"But you're so nice," she complained. She was a heavier girl with uncontrolled curly brunette hair and glasses. She looked like she spent all of her time with her nose buried in a book. I smiled at her.

"Yes, I am. Shifters aren't crazy homicidal beasts like the horror movies would have you believe," I explained to her, and therefore to the others who were listening. She looked at me curiously, like she was evaluating me, then grinned.

"I think I'd like to learn more about the Shifters," she finally said. I grinned in return.

"I think I can manage that," I told her. Mary giggled, her sleek black hair finally falling away from her eyes. "Anyone else is welcome to learn too," I added for her benefit.

"C'mon, everyone, it's time for bed," Professor Rhodes told us. Our group finally had to split. The boys waved as they walked off to their dorm. Mary, Sarah, and I headed back to our dorm, talking about books on the way.

"What is your roommate like?" I asked Sarah. I knew Mary's roommate, obviously. Sarah sighed.

"She's a cheerleader," Sarah groaned.

"It's too bad you two can't switch roommates," they'd get along much better with each other than with their current roommates. Sarah smiled.

"She's not so bad, we just don't talk much," she shrugged "I think she's one of the Vampire's kids," Sarah lived only a couple of doors down from me, which made me happy that my new friends were so close. I told them goodnight as I opened my own door. It was nice to have my own sanctuary.

Before I went to bed, I wrote a long email to my mom telling her all about my new friends. She would be happy with that. She would tell dad that I was doing ok and he wouldn't have to take desperate measures to make sure I was actually ok.

I found my pajamas and checked my phone, realizing that it had been almost all day since I had checked it last. Lissa's scholarship had come through, so she was going to a good school. There was also a message from Caleb: <Your father has assured the Community that you will still do your duty to the tribe. I'll see you when you come home this week>

I stared at the message, confused. I hadn't heard about any of this. Obviously, I would do my duty for the tribe and get married to a shifter. The tribe wouldn't continue unless I did. I guessed it made sense that daddy would reassure the Shifters once word had gotten out that I had been Chosen, but why would Caleb be texting me about it? Why would he be saying he was going to see me? We hadn't made any plans. He also seemed so different the last time I had seen him. He was usually confident and athletic, hanging out and playing sports with the boys. This time he'd been shy. I hadn't made any sense. I wished I knew more about what was going on.

There wasn't anything I could do about it now, though and decided my best option was to go to bed.

 


	14. Chapter 14

The next few days flew by quickly as I got to know my new friends. They accepted me as one of their group and we spent most of the time discussing books, movies, and tv shows, including marathoning all of the Joss Whedon shows we could get our hands on in the girl's dorm common room. Damon and Luce were allowed there during certain hours, so we had to restrict our marathons to then.

I made sure to communicate with my family every day. They would worry if I didn't. I told them all about my new friends and hoped that was enough information for them so they wouldn't worry. I hadn't seen any of them in days, and it felt extremely strange. I was used to being under my brothers' paws all the time and hanging out in the woods. It was strange to spend all my time with these fellow nerds, and not with my family. I was still trying to get used to it. My new friends didn't seem to understand. They were actually glad to be away from their families, since they were so different from the rest of their families, they were all glad to be here instead of home.

Before I knew it, it was Sunday night and classes were starting on Monday morning. The rest of the school had moved back into the dorms all day, and we were enlisted to help them. Professor Rhodes had actually suggested that we help them and make friends with the upperclassmen. She suggested it would really help us in the coming year. I watched as the cars drove up and helped as many of the older girls lug their things back up to their dorm rooms as I could. Luckily, I was stronger than the other girls, with more stamina, so I got to meet a lot of the girls this way. They would officially pick girls to mentor during this week, when the clubs were having their trial week. It didn't hurt to make a good impression with them now. I picked out a couple who seemed like good candidates. None of them seemed freaked out by how much I could carry, which was a good sign.

I went to bed that night feeling hopeful.

My alarm went off at 7 and I groaned awake. I had gotten used to the night schedule. Switching back to getting up during the day was hard. I rushed through the shower and pulled a brush through my hair. I voted for the simple ponytail today, I decided as I put on my uniform, being more careful than usual. It was the first day. I wanted to make a good impression. I made sure I had everything for my classes and headed down to breakfast. I was grateful there would be coffee. There was no way I would survive the day without it. Mary and Sarah joined me shortly after I arrived and claimed our usual table.

"What is your class schedule like?" Mary asked as she sat down with her breakfast. I pulled my schedule from my pocket to show her. My cell phone whistled from my pocket and I dug it out too.

-Have a good first day!- was the message from my mom. I smiled and set my phone to silent before putting it back in my pocket. -I'll see you Friday- The tension I hadn't even realized I had evaporated. Mom was still rooting for me. I wasn't truly alone here. I'd see them again in a few days.

Mary and Sarah had pulled out their schedules and laid them on the table with mine. I looked over their classes and saw that we had a few classes together and the same lunch period. Mary was even in my Japanese and karate classes. I hadn't noticed her a belt-test the other day. "You're taking karate?" I asked her. She nodded shyly.

"I always wanted to learn, but never could," she explained. "I didn't bother testing for a belt since I never studied," she continued. That made sense.

The warning bell rang and we headed off to class. We were all in the honors track so I would actually be seeing them a lot throughout the day. I found my way to my first class. Apparently, all of the Apprentices had classes in the same hallway. The Professors were in the hall to point us the right way. I found my English class with Mary at my heels. I smiled at her and we found seats next to each other to claim. I fingered my hourglass charm nervously while we waited for class to start. "It'll be ok," Mary reassured me. I smiled over at her and hoped that she was right. The bell rang again and the rest of the students clambered for their seats. Professor Rhodes strode to the front of the room.

"Good morning, Apprentices," she greeted us. She seemed to be unaffected by the early hour.

"Good morning, Professor," the class intoned automatically.

"Welcome to Honors English, everyone. I know you will all do well here or you would not have been selected for the Honors program. It is a lot of hard work. Each of your professors will be available in the evenings during study time to answer any questions that you may have. Most of your classes will be in this hallway, so you shouldn't get lost. If you do, please ask any of the Professors, they will be willing to help," she grabbed a stack of papers from her desk and started passing them out. "These are the syllabi for the year," she started going over the syllabi and explaining everything we needed for her class. She then passed out the first book we would be reading this year: Tom Sawyer. She also passed out planers to everyone and gave us our first homework assignments. Which were of course due tomorrow.

The rest of the morning was much of the same, receiving syllabi, explanations of the class, and homework assignments. It seemed like a huge amount of work to be assigned on the first day of school. I hoped this afternoon would be easier. My bag was already feeling too heavy with all of the binders and notebooks and textbooks in it. Our history teacher stopped us before lunch. "Each of you has been assigned a locker at the end of the hall which you are allowed to keep your things in through the school day. Your locker will have your name on it. I will remind you not to access any locker which is not yours. There are severe consequences for breaking that rule," he let us leave a few minutes early so we could find our lockers. I was glad to take everything out of my bag and leave it behind for lunch. I stacked everything neatly, keeping only my planner and copy of Tom Sawyer to read at lunch. I sent my mom a quick text that things were going well so far and headed off to lunch with my new friends.

 


	15. Chapter 15

Even through lunch, my day seemed like a day at a typical high school. Sure, there was a lot of homework, but that seemed to be expected in the honors program. Things started to change after lunch, though. The Apprentice class was held in the auditorium directly after lunch. All of the Apprentices had this class at the same time. Damon and Luce had lunch with us, so they walked with us to class too, while debating who would win a fight between an astronaut and a caveman. I smiled about how that was their biggest concern. Mary and Sarah were throwing in their opinions on the subject as well. I didn't understand their fascination, but it was amusing to listen to.

As we walked into the auditorium, Professor Rhodes handed us each a textbook. We took seats down near the front of the auditorium. I saw that there were a few upperclassmen sitting in chairs on the stage. There were two girls, a 2nd and 4th year, and a 3rd year boy. I wondered what they were doing there. I looked at the textbook we had been handed: Introduction to Vampirism. At least this school was finally starting to be different from other high schools. My friends were all looking at their textbooks in the same disbelief I was feeling. Everything had seemed so normal so far that it was hard to remember that we were in the academy for vampires.

"Good afternoon, Apprentices," Professor Rhodes greeted us once the bell had rung. She strode to the front of the auditorium and ascended the stage with a grace I couldn't ever hope to achieve.

"Good afternoon," the crowd intoned. We had learned that much at least.

"I hope your classes have gone well so far. I know things have seemed pretty normal for you, but that will change now," she explained to us. "This class is designed to teach you the truths about what it means to be a vampire and to help you prepare for the transitions your bodies will be going through in the coming years." She continued. "The student president from the Neophyte, Novice, and Journeyman classes will be sitting in on this class and helping me out. They will also be able to help you with any questions you have about your journey. They have been through the journey much more recently than I have." She gave a smile to them. "Would you introduce yourselves?" she asked them. The Neophyte girl stood first and walked calmly over to the podium, not as gracefully as Professor Rhodes had.

"Hello, I'm the Neophyte class president, Beth Jones," she had sleek black hair and glasses. "I'll be glad to help you in any way that I can," she smiled at us all and headed back to her seat. The Novice boy introduced himself and Edward Smith and the same speech about being willing to help us. The Journeymaid girl, Emily Dekapi, glided like a ballerina to the podium to give her introduction speech. I noticed that she was paler than the other two, though she still had dark brown hair. It seemed a little strange to me. So did her ballerina-like grace. Professor Rhodes took the podium again.

"You will all find a syllabus inside of your textbook," we spent the rest of the class going over the syllabus. That seemed like the theme of the day. I was curious about the class, but the syllabus didn't give much information. I had been hoping we would learn more about being vampires today.

"Before you go, there are a couple things about being vampires in training that you must know now." Professor Rhodes had everyone's attention with those words. "You cannot live outside of the company of full vampires. I cannot stress this enough. If you are away from full vampires while you are in training, your bodies will reject the change and you _will_ die," I doubted anyone in the room dared to disbelieve her.

The bell rang then, freeing us from the reality of our situations. I separated from everyone except Mary for Japanese class. The rest hadn't chosen Japanese for their foreign language, which made me a little sad. I realized quickly that I was ahead in that class through my years of karate. Professor Kinoshita seemed impressed by this. Most of her new students didn't know anything about the language. I didn't know much. All I really knew were karate terms, but it was still more than the rest of the class. It gave me some comfort. Professor Kinoshita didn't waste time with the syllabus; we jumped right in to the first lesson, which was greetings. Thankfully, I already knew these, and wasn't embarrassed.

"It's so complicated!" Mary complained to me after class, shoving her Japanese textbook and workbook into her bag.

"It's just really different from English," I reminded her.

"Please don't let me fail," she begged. I smiled at her.

"Of course not," I replied, finally, finally feeling like we had a real connection, and she wouldn't just abandon me. We were interested in the same things, and she seemed to be able to look past the fact that I was a Shifter. We walked together to karate. Mary was looking excited. She had said she really wanted to learn.

I saw Professor Kinoshita again in my last class of the day, which was karate. There were no useless syllabi in this class either. We were expected to change into our gi, which we could leave in our lockers from now on, and get to work. I was at the front of the class, since I was a black belt. However, since I was only an Apprentice, I was automatically at the bottom of the black belts, since they were all Novices and higher. They smiled, though, and welcomed me to their ranks with open arms. The class was spent only on stretches and basic punches and blocks, but it was still good exercise, and it was good for the white belts to be introduced to the basics. I hadn't practiced in a little while, it seemed the other black belts hadn't practiced over the summer either, so I wasn't behind. 

Dawn kept glaring at me through the entire class. She obviously didn't like me. I refused to let her get to me. She couldn't do anything, and already had detention and community service for the entire year for what she had already done to me. After the basic stretches, Professor Kinoshita had the black belts go around the room helping the other students. I spent most of my time with Mary. She was so enthusiastic and happy to be here. It was really reassuring. She was also one of the few Apprentices who accepted me, despite my background. The older students also didn't seem to mind. They gave me hope for this school.

Professor Kinoshita clapped to get our attention "I'm letting you leave early this week so the Apprentices can go to the club fair up at the main building. Those of you in karate club are welcome to stay and practice. Journeyman Yamada, you are in charge of the karate club booth. I encourage all of the Apprentices to try out the karate club," she told us in dismissal. We bowed to her as was proper, and the Apprentices returned to the locker room to change before the club fair started. I wondered what kind of clubs they had here. Mary and I walked up to the main building with all the other Apprentices from their various physical education classes.

My stomach was growling already. Lunch was such a long time ago and the workout hadn't helped. I hadn't eaten as much as I should have, since I was trying to look normal in front of my new friends. I needed to eat soon. I felt the hunger stirring my wolf, who was starting to smell the students, the Apprentices in particular, as meat. My wolf craved blood. It had been ages since I felt bloodlust. I had almost forgotten about it. It was so strange, since it was so much stronger now than I had ever felt it. What was going on?

 


	16. Chapter 16

When we got back to the cafeteria, I saw that the room was crowded with booths set up for each of the various clubs. Professor Rhodes greeted us at the door. "Go ahead and explore all of the various clubs. There are representatives from each to explain the clubs to you. You can spend the rest of the week trying out the various clubs to see which one appeals most to you," she waved us inside. I hung to the back of the group, hoping that would keep some of the attention from me.

There were clubs for everything, each language the school offered as well as each sport, and just about every profession and cause I could think of. I meandered among the booths, picking up pamphlets and looking over each of the clubs. It seemed like once you picked a club you were expected to stay in it for the entire four years, so I wanted to make sure I picked the right one.

I lost track of my friends. They all needed to choose clubs for themselves too. Everyone at the club tables were extremely energetic. They were all recruiting really hard. I wandered through the booths, wondering which clubs I should consider. I picked up the pamphlet from the karate club. "You should join," Yamada told me with a grin when I came up to his booth. "You're already a black belt. I'm sure Kinoshita-sensei would love having you as an addition to her club. She also hosts the Japanese club," he pointed to the other side of the cafeteria. "It takes some work, but Kinoshita-sensei will let you join both clubs. Most of the blackbelts are in both," he smiled at me. I gave him a smile in return.

"Thanks. I'll definitely consider it," I told him and wandered toward the Japanese table. It seemed like Yamada had a good idea, so I might as well consider it. Unfortunately, Dawn was standing at the French table, which was inconveniently placed right next to the Japanese table. I hoped she would just ignore me.

"What are you doing here, mutt?" she asked me loudly when I came over. I fought back a snarl, feeling the bloodlust rise again. I needed to eat something before I attacked her. People turned to stare at us. I tried ignoring her and went to the Japanese club table, trying to mind my own business. Which I felt was very mature of me. I smiled at the girl there, she was another one of the blackbelts.

"Did Yamada send you over?" she asked me with an overly bright smile. I nodded a bit shyly. I didn't like all of the attention from obviously hostile people. "You're the Blackbelt Apprentice, right? I'm Shannon," I glanced at her necklace. She was a Journeymaid. I relaxed a little, Dawn really shouldn't cause trouble in front of the fourth-years. It was bound to get back to the teachers. There were teachers around, I saw at them around the edge of the room.

"Yes, Yamada mentioned something about being able to join both clubs," I told her nervously. She handed me the pamphlet.

"Hey, mutt, are you too stupid to even know when someone's talking to you? I asked you why you're here," Dawn spoke even more loudly. She moved closer to me, intending to shove me. I stepped to the side, with the reflexes I'd gained in karate and as a Shifter. Shannon came out from behind her booth in the same movement and stepped in front of Dawn, blocking her path to me. I turned to face the two of them, nervous as to what would happen. I forced myself to breathe, to reign in my wolf. My temper and control were fraying.

"Apprentice!" Shannon stood at her full height, and somehow managed to look menacing, despite her pixie size. Dawn hesitated. "Apprentices are not meant to pick fights with other Apprentices," she scolded. Dawn seemed to cower away from her. I wondered how Shannon was managing that. "What is your name, Apprentice?" Shannon demanded. People were openly staring. At least the Apprentices were. The older students didn't seem concerned with Shannon's actions. She was acting like proper nobility. She wasn't acting like she deserved the respect just from her previous life, like Dawn was.

"Dawn Chase," Dawn replied, she seemed offended, like Shannon should have known her.

"I will inform the Masters of your actions, Apprentice Chase. Learn to get along with your classmates, no matter their background. The other students here are your family now, and let me say, you are _not_ making a good impression to your new older brothers and sisters," Shannon's eyes unfocused for a second. "Report to the Headmistress' office," Dawn sputtered and looked to complain, when Professor Rhodes appeared behind Dawn.

"This way, Apprentice," she ordered sternly. Dawn continued sputtering, upset, but had no choice except to follow Professor Rhodes. Shannon smiled and went back to her booth. The room slowly went back to its previous noise level as the students went back to picking clubs.

"So where were we? Oh yeah! You can join both clubs as long as you get permission from Kinoshita-sensei. I've never seen her turn down a blackbelt," she went over with me what the Japanese club was about. It sounded like a lot of fun. Shannon looked me over more closely. "Do you have a mentor yet?" she asked. I shook my head. No one had approached me yet. "It's traditionally someone only a year above you, but you're already breaking all the traditions. I also know you barely know me, but I like you already. Would you like me to be your mentor?" she asked, with a genuine smile. I thought about it for a fraction of a second before I answered.

"Yes, of course!" Shannon seemed like a great Journeymaid. She seemed like the epitome of what a vampire-in-training should be, and she was interested in at least some of the same things I was interested in. She grinned.

"Great! Come to my room after study hall. I'm in 125. If you need help on your Japanese homework, see me during study hall!" she told me. I knew my dismissal as she turned to help the next person interested in the Japanese club.

I dug my phone out of my pocket to send mom an email about my classes, and my mentor. I hoped she would be proud of me and get my dad to stop worrying. I also hoped I'd be able to get something to eat soon. I was ravenous. I should've eaten earlier. The humans around me were smelling like food, and that was dangerous. Especially when I noticed that my canines had elongated.

 


	17. Chapter 17

I felt a hand grab my arm and turn me around. I must've been really out of it if I let someone sneak up on me. It was Shannon. She looked me over and cursed. "Shit, it's only the first day. Of course they haven't warned you," she grumbled. She took my hand. "Come with me," she ordered. The crowd was looking at me again, but everything seemed to have a red haze around it. Shannon dragged me from the room as fast as she could, into the back room, which was a giant kitchen. The staff there didn't seem to notice us coming in. "Let me guess, you ate less than usual because you were hanging out with humans?" she demanded as she plopped me into a stool and started rummaging through the kitchen. She came back a moment later with a mostly rare steak and a glass of red liquid I didn't want to think too much about in my human form. I looked at her confused. "Eat, wolf-girl, before you do something stupid,"

My next breath brought me the smell of meat and I dug in. Shannon went rummaging again and got herself a glass of the red liquid, blood, my brain corrected. It wasn't until I finished my steak and my own glass before I came back to myself and the red haze faded. Shannon looked reassured when my eyes cleared and my canines shrank again. "I've never had that happen before," I told her sheepishly.

"It doesn't happen to most students before at least their Neophyte year," she explained. "It must be different for you, since you're a Shifter, not a human. The administration should have warned you. They usually go over it about halfway through first year," she sighed. "I'm not explaining this well, I'm sorry. As you know, your body is going through changes now, as you turn from human to vampire. In your case, you're turning from Shifter to vampire. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Shifters, particularly the wolves, get bloodlust if they don't eat often enough," I nodded along "and you eat more than normal humans, which makes you look strange to the humans. Don't do that again. Vampires also suffer from bloodlust when they haven't had blood. The kitchen here is _always_ open. The school doesn't want any accidents," she scolded gently. I nodded, my face turning red. "I promise your friends won't think any less of you. We've been watching them. They're good kids," she told me gently. I nodded again.

"Thank you," she grinned at me.

"That's what a mentor is for. You ready to head back out there? The club fair is almost over. Any idea what club you're going to join?" she asked as she stood and we headed back out to the main room.

"I was thinking of asking Kinoshita-sensei if I could join both of her clubs," I replied. Shannon smiled.

"I'll put in a good word for you. I'm also going to make a comment to the headmistress about what happened earlier. Don't worry you won't get in trouble. I just want them to know they should warn the Apprentices earlier, especially if they get any more shifters," I was relieved that I wasn't going to get in trouble for this. My father would be livid if he knew how close I'd been to losing control. I would just have to make sure he never found out, and never let myself fall into that situation again.

My friends were waiting for me on the other side of the kitchen door. "Are you ok?" Mary asked, obviously worried. "We saw Shannon drag you off…" I smiled at them, glad they cared, and nodded.

"I'm fine," I told them, trying to be reassuring. "I'll explain more at dinner, I promise, but I'm really fine," the club members were packing up their booths. "Did you guys choose clubs?" I asked, hoping to distract them from me for a little while. We still had a little time before dinner and the teachers suggested we go up to our lockers and get our things to prepare for study hall after dinner. My friends and I walked up to the Apprentice wing together. The boys were trying out for the different sports, Mary had found an anime club she wanted to check out, and Sarah had found a ballet club. I was curious about those, and decided I'd have to check them out for myself too. I did have to make sure I picked the best club, after all. I'd be stuck with it once the decision was made.

I grabbed my books from my locker so I'd be able to do my homework later. Next was a trip to the supply room to get more notebooks and things I hadn't anticipated. At least I'd already gotten a planner, so I could write down my assignments earlier. By the time we made it back to the cafeteria, the booths were all dismantled and the real tables were back again. Dinner had started, so we went through the food line. I filled up my tray, not willing to risk the bloodlust again. My friends looked confused at my giant plate of food when I finally sat down with them. I blushed, embarrassed by it. "Shifters have higher metabolisms than humans," I explained to them. They nodded, accepting it just like that. Luce and Damon were arguing about which sports were the best. If they hadn't been laughing so hard during it, I would've thought they were about to come to blows. They acted more like brothers than boys who had just met. After we had finished dinner, the boys took our plates and trays back while Mary, Sarah, and I got out our homework to begin work. The teachers were all sitting at their table to answer any of the students' questions. We got to our work, chatting occasionally. My phone kept whistling with messages from my mom. She was still worried. I tried to reassure her that I was ok and would see her Friday.

"Talking to your husbands, wolf-slut?" one of Dawn's friends said at my back as I was typing out yet another reply to my mom. I tried to ignore her. She was being stupid, but me fighting her wouldn't help anything. It would just get all of us in trouble. "We know that's all the good Shifter girls are, breeding more Shifter mutts," a crowd of students had congregated in front of the teachers' table, blocking us from view. Just what I needed, more ignorant girls commenting on things they didn't know and didn't want to know.

"It's still too stupid to realize we're talking about it," another girl giggled, when I tried to ignore them. My friends stood as one, scraping their chairs. I turned in my chair to stop them, they shouldn't get themselves in trouble on my account!

Before they could do anything about the girls, I heard an exasperated sigh from the other side of the girls. "I thought we got through to you lot earlier," Shannon's voice said clearly. Before they could sputter anything in defense, Shannon grabbed them by the ear and started dragging them off toward the teachers' table. Yamada had been standing just behind her and took a seat at our table when she left.

"Don't worry, she can handle those two alone. She thought they might try something again," he explained as all of my friends seated themselves again, looking worried "It is good of you to stand up for your friend," he added "though you did not pick the easy route," he seemed impressed with them. After a few minutes, Shannon came back to join us for the rest of study hall.

"I thought they would've learned the first time I took one of them to the headmistress. I've never seen this many problems out of the Apprentice class," Shannon grumbled as she took her seat. Yamada nodded.

"I'll get the rest of the Journeymen on it," Yamada reassured her. "They won't put up with it,"

"In the meantime, Sam, stick with your friends. After this, they'll be a lot less likely to cause trouble when there are people around," Shannon ordered. I nodded meekly. Shannon spent the rest of the time talking with Yamada about the Japanese essay they'd been assigned and helping the rest of us with our homework. I hoped those girls really learned to leave me alone this time.

 


	18. Chapter 18

After study hall, I followed Shannon back to her dorm room. As a Journeymaid, she had a suite on the first floor of the dorm. Her rooms were much bigger than mine. I knew that it was already an exception for me to have me own room. Most of the Apprentices had to share. She had her own bedroom, bathroom, a kitchenette, and living room. When we entered her suite, she indicated that I should take a seat at her coffee table. Another girl followed us in. A quick glance at her pendant told me she was a Novice, a third year. The blonde, tiny Novice glanced me over before she went to the kitchenette to make tea. She couldn't have been more the 4'10" and looked like she was more suited to be a ballerina than a vampire. "You replacing us with an Apprentice?" the girl asked Shannon. Shannon groaned as she kicked off her shoes and untucked her shirt. I figured she hated the constant uniform as much as everyone else. She threw her jacket on the floor on top of the shoes.

"Nope, just picking up strays as per usual," Shannon replied as she took a seat in the comfy chair by the fireplace. "Speaking of, where is Meaghan?" the other girl shrugged and came over to us to pour the tea for four.

"You're out of strays you can pick up now, aren't you?" the other girl asked as she took one of the remaining seats. Shannon nodded. Suddenly the door opened again and a brunette Neophyte entered the room. She picked up Shannon's abandoned shoes and jacket and put them away carefully before she came over to join us.

"Meaghan, Emily, this is Apprentice Samantha Lykos. She is my new underclassman. Samantha, this is Novice Emily Johnson and Neophyte Meaghan Old. They are also students I mentor. Each Journeymaid is allowed to mentor three underclassmen, one from each grade. Technically, if you accept, you will be the attendant for all three of us. In exchange for helping us with things like keeping our rooms clean, we help you adjust to being a vampire, making and keeping friends, and keeping up with your classes. Since we've all been where you've been and studied what you need to study, we can offer you a lot of advice."

"I know it sounds like a lot," Emily started, grinning and looking cheerful, "but it's a great way to make friends and we really don't ask for a lot," she insisted. I nodded. I knew it was important to get a mentor here. If for no other reason than that people wouldn't be able to hurt me with three mentors. Better yet, none of them seemed concerned that I was a Shifter. Shannon stood and got a small box from one of her bookshelves. She opened it and came back to me. She handed me a thin silver bracelet.

"Wear this at all times. It will keep the others from messing with you," she insisted. The bracelet was plain, and I wondered why it would protect me, but I did as she said. As soon as I fastened the clasp, writing began to appear on the bracelet. First came the Journeymaid pendant with Shannon's name, then came the pendants and names of the other two.

"That shows who your mentors are. Trust me, no one wants to mess with us." Emily looked so tiny and petite that I didn't entirely trust what she said.

"What do I have to do for you?" I asked them, confused as to what my role would be and hoping it wasn't too terrible.

"You help clean Meaghan's room and help her with chores," Shannon explained. "In turn, she helps Emily, and Emily helps me." Meaghan rolled her eyes.

"Says the girl who leaves her jacket lying on the ground every day." Shannon laughed.

"I swear, I'm not a tyrant!" Shannon protested. The room erupted in giggles. I felt myself relaxing around them.

"Don't worry. You'll make friends here and learn to fit in. We were all misfits too. That's why Shannon originally rescued us in the first place," Emily explained, once the giggles had quieted down.

"If you have any trouble, let us know. It's better if we take care of it than you. You need to keep your nose clean, since you're the first Shifter the school has ever enrolled." Shannon was suddenly serious. She looked at me pointedly, as if she was sure I could do no such thing as keep my nose clean. "Promise me you'll stay out of trouble."

"I promise!" I insisted. I didn't go looking for trouble. I didn't think any of my new mentors believed me. Trouble somehow kept finding me. . .

"If any of you have homework left, you should go do it," Shannon scolded the three of us once we had finished our tea. Emily cleared the mugs and brewed a fresh pot for Shannon.

I left with the others and headed back up to my own dorm room. I was getting restless and felt the itching under my skin. I needed to shift forms soon. The human skin was getting uncomfortable. It was still two days before I'd get to see my family again, before I'd get to shift forms again. I couldn't risk someone here seeing me in animal form. They already hated me, or barely tolerated me at best.

I carefully reorganized my books and homework as I turned on my computer. As soon as my computer was on, I had messages from all of my new friends. I smiled, feeling accepted and happy. They truly wouldn't leave me alone.

 


	19. Chapter 19

I was exhasuted after my first hard day of classes. I still had homework to do, though. I worked on it for awhile, but the scent of the forest I could see from my window was drawing my attention. Before I could consider sneaking outside to go play in the moonlight, there was a knock on my door. Wary, I went to the door. I opened it a crack, wondering who would be knocking at this time of night. Mary was on the other side of the door, looking shy. "Do you mind if I come in?" Resigning myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get a quiet evening to myself, even though I desperately needed it, I opened the door so she could come in. I was used to being surrounded by people all day, namely my brothers, but they knew me well enough to know when I needed to be alone. I didn't feel like I was getting any alone time here. Between bullies and my friends, I was surrounded by people. Mary looked like she needed me, however, so I put my own feelings aside to let her in and give her the support she needed. I grasped the concept that the world didn't revolve around me, even if I did want to ignore that at the moment. She sat down in my desk chair, still looking shy and unsure.

"What's going on?" I asked her, curious as to why she had come over. She groaned.

"Dawn is getting on my last nerve," she complained. "She snuck a boy into our room, and they're-" she trailed off. My imagination filled in what they were doing.

"But she's only 15!" I protested. Sure, I knew that sex happened. Hell, that's what my parents blatantly wanted me to do with another shifter to have more shifters, but even they wanted me to wait until I was older to complete that. They also wanted me to be married first. . .

"And he's a Journeyman," Mary added, looking even more distressed. I didn't blame her. I was grateful I didn't have a roommate. Even more, I was glad I didn't have to deal with this kind of situation. "Dawn kicked me out of the room so she could enjoy his company."

"Aren't boys not allowed in the dorm?" I asked. I was pretty sure that was one of the school rules.

"They're only allowed in the common room downstairs. They also need to be out of there by this time of night," she explained. She took a glance at my wrist. "Shannon's really your mentor?" she asked, looking excited. I nodded and showed her the bracelet. "I hope one of the upperclassmen picks me," she looked hopeful and stared longingly at the bracelet.

"What's the big deal about the mentors?" I asked her. I knew it was desirable, but I didn't know why.

"It makes your life a lot easier here," she explained. She wouldn't give me any more information no matter how much I badgered her. I spent most of the rest of the evening trying to badger more information out of her, but she wouldn't budge. We spent the evening joking and gossiping and just getting to know each other. It was only a couple minutes before curfew when she finally left to go to her own room. She at least looked happier after the evening of hanging out. I wished there was something I could do about her roommate, but I knew I needed to keep myself out of as much trouble as possible.

 


	20. Chapter 20

I slept poorly that night. I was distracted by the scent of the forest. I was already sick and tired of being trapped inside.

My alarm went off the next morning and I forced myself to roll out of bed, feeling just as exhausted as when I had fallen into the bed after Mary had left the night before. I showered and dressed, still mostly asleep. I made sure my uniform was straight and that I was wearing all of the pieces. I dug the hourglass on its chain from under my shirt, so it could be seen. I also go my phone out of my skirt pocket to make sure I didn't have any missed messages. I'd only been gone from my real life for a week, but it already seemed so far away. I missed my brothers, my parents, our loud crazy family, and all the extended family of shifters.

I did, however, text Eric. I needed to get out of human form for awhile. I had promised dad that I wouldn't go into the woods alone. <Run with me tonight?>

I had my bag packed for my classes before I received the reply. <I'll meet you at 6> I was grinning when I left my room. I was surprised to see Meaghan waiting for me on the other side of my door. She was even carrying two cups of coffee.

"You're pretty chipper for 7:15," she greeted me as she handed me one of the coffees. I grinned at her, which even got her to return the favor with a tiny smile.

"My brother's coming to visit tonight," I told her as we headed off towards breakfast. She raised a sleepy brow.

"We're only allowed visitors on the weekends." She reminded me as we reached the stairs. She sounded sad that she had to inform me of that fact.

"I-I have special permission," I reminded her in turn. I was nervous about talking to people about being a shifter. It hadn't made me many friends here so far. I was already feeling tight in this skin. I was nervous and edgy, and needed to shift forms before it got any worse.

Meaghan looked me over. "How'd you manage that? Even the Journeymen don't have those kind of privileges." I tried to smile at her, tried to calm my racing heart, tried to relax. I had to hope and trust that as my mentors, Meaghan and the others wouldn't look down on me for what I am.

"My father is one of the local Alphas." I reminded her. I hesitated on the wording for the rest of my explanation. "As the first Shifter enrolled here, the headmistress has allowed some extra privileges to appease the Shifter community." I hoped that was explanation enough. We had almost made it to the cafeteria and I wanted this conversation to be over before we made it to where the other students would be. They weren't likely to react as calmly as my mentor. I wasn't even sure of how calm her reaction would be.

"Lucky," she replied dreamily. Then she added with a complete reversal of tone that had me stopping in my tracks: "You're only using this extra power to see your _brother_?" she sounded incredulous. I turned to her confused.

"Who else would I see?" All I had were my parents and brothers. My parents were busy, so I couldn't drag them out here unless it was really important and urgent. I would see them this weekend anyway.

"A boyfriend? Your parents? A friend? Why on earth would you choose your brother?"

"I don't have a boyfriend!" I insisted, grumpily, while my stupid brain decided it was a great time to show me an image of Caleb… "And my parents are always busy running the pack." I hurried on in my explanation before she could see the hint of red coloring my cheeks. Meaghan just didn't understand the Shifter community. "Besides, I grew up surrounded by my brothers. They were my best friends, even if we did fight like siblings…" I trailed off. I didn't feel like I was explaining things very well to her. She didn't seem to be getting it.

"You're weird," was the reply I finally received from her after a dreadfully long silence. I started, hoping I wasn't losing one of my few friends. "My brother and I hated each other growing up." I finally relaxed. If she thought that my relationship with my family was the strange thing about me, that was perfectly ok.

We finally made it through the breakfast line and found the table where Emily, Shannon, and Mary were waiting for us with their breakfasts. Shannon waved enthusiastically as we sat down. I smiled at her and finally looked over my breakfast. I hadn't paid much attention to what they were serving this morning. It was eggs, sausage, toast, and orange juice. There was also a thing cup with the two pills we received every morning. I peered at the pills. "What are these, anyway?" I asked my table-mates, indicating the pills.

"Vitamins," Shannon answered a touch too quickly. I looked at her more closely. She was in her last year here, and looked older than the rest of us. She was paler than the rest of us, and held herself with the grace and confidence of a full vampire. With my heightened Shifter senses, however, I noticed that her heart was beating too fast and she was too uncomfortable. In short, she was lying. It was dangerous to lie in front of Shifters. We're trained young to spot the signs of a lie. The oldest Alphas even claim that they can smell a lie on someone. I'm not sure if that's true or just a story the Alphas make up so people don't try to lie to them. Regardless, I knew that Shannon was lying.

The others seemed to accept Shannon's story, though. I didn't know what to think of it, but decided it was best not to push the issue until I had more information. I took the pills anyway. Shannon was watching me and I had to make sure she continued to think I believed her. I didn't, but there was no reason she needed to know that.

All too quickly, the bell sounded and we all gathered up our things, rushing to drop off our breakfast dishes on the way out of the cafeteria. I said a quick goodbye to my mentors and headed off to class with Mary, the mornings events still on my mind.

 


	21. Chapter 21

Mary and I made it to class with plenty of time to spare. I was glad I had a friend in most of my classes. We even had time to stop by our lockers to drop off our extra books before English. I made sure I had my homework, the book we were assigned, and my notebook for this class. I also patted my skirt pocket to make sure my phone was still there. On impulse, I pulled it out to check for messages. The last one was from Eric this morning. I relaxed and took my seat with Mary sitting next to me. At the back of the room, I noticed a pimply-faced grungy-looking boy I hadn't noticed before. His uniform looked like he had crumpled it up and slept in it before he bothered putting it on.

He glared at me before he put his head on his desk to go back to sleep. I tried to ignore his obvious antagonism. I knew most of the vampires didn't like me. I would have to win their support somehow. Though part of me didn't care if this boy came to like me or not.

Professor Rhodes entered the room and greeted us all. We chorused our reply and she began her actual class. The first thing she did was ask for our homework. She strode up and down the aisles collecting homework from everyone. I handed mine in, thankful when she gave me a smile in reply.

The pimply boy in the back of the room didn't have anything to hand in. He didn't even have the honor to apologize for it. "Where is your homework Apprentice Jones?" Professor Rhodes demanded. I could tell in those words that she was a new teacher, still trying to get her feet under her. She was trying too hard to be tough.

"Didn't bother," he mumbled. Professor Rhodes glared.

"Stand and answer me properly, Apprentice," she ordered, her voice more firm this time. He groaned and rolled his eyes, but he did eventually stand.

"I didn't do my homework," he sighed. The rest of the class was gawking at him in horror, everyone seemed to be hoping that they wouldn't be next to be called out like this.

"Why not?" Professor Rhodes demanded, still standing firm. I had a feeling something more important was happening here than just a lazy student not doing his homework. There had to be something more to it.

It was then that the Headmistress burst into the classroom. "Professor Rhodes, I will take care of this. Thank you for alerting me to the situation here." Professor Rhodes nodded and stepped away from the pimply-faced boy. He had turned white as a sheet and was looking absolutely terrified as the Headmistress came up to him.

"You are not living up to the standards of our Honors program, Apprentice Jones. Come with me, you will be transferred to the non-Honors track." He hung his head and followed the Headmistress from the room. The whispers started immediately in the rest of the class. Professor Rhodes somehow got our attention again and began her lesson. I didn't much pay attention to it. No one did. We were all too busy thinking about the boy who had gotten removed from the Honors program just for not completing one homework assignment.

I took notes and dutifully copied down all of my homework in all of my classes that day, but between the boy getting kicked out of the Honors program and my brother coming that evening, my mind wasn't really in to school that day and I found myself really distracted.

It wasn't until the Apprentice class that I really began to pay attention again. Today's topic was on what happened to vampires if their bodies rejected the Change. It wasn't a topic any of us wanted to hear more about, but it was necessary to know. Professor McCullen was leading today's lecture.

"As you are all aware, not all students successfully complete the Change into full vampires. It is not a pleasant subject, but it is something you must all be aware of. If you stay too long from the influence of adult vampires, your bodies will reject the Change. However, that is not the only time a student's body rejects the Change. No one knows the reason why, but some students, even surrounded by adult vampires, will reject the Change." I was dutifully writing down everything he said, but I wished he had new information for us. This was something that terrified all of the student vampires. Didn't he realize that? "The physical symptoms of the rejection are flu-like symptoms, a persistent cough, weakness, and fatigue. In later stages, the students begin coughing blood," he read the list with no interest, as if he didn't care that we were all terrified of it happening to us. He seemed so clueless about the students. He only looked 17, with messy bronze colored hair, and the same too-pale skin as the rest of the vampires. There was just something off about him, like he didn't quite understand any of us. He should, he looked like he hadn't gone through the transformation that long ago himself. "Vampire students also do not get normal illnesses, so you do not need to fear every time you get a cold," he continued.

_Great, so we only have to fear the one and only time we get a cold_. That thought wasn't very comforting. I hadn't really ever been sick. Shifters were also immune to most common illnesses. Getting sick was now a terrifying idea.

Professor McCullen gave us a chapter to read out of our Apprentice Handbook before the next class.

It was in karate class that afternoon that I received my next surprise. Eric was waiting for me, in his gi, in my karate class. As soon as I saw him, I ran towards him. I wasn't concerned about sneaking up on him. That was impossible when I was running full-out. He caught me up in a hug and swung me around. "Eric, you're early!" I exclaimed when he gently set me back on my feet. We were getting quite a bit of attention from the other students.

"Go change and I'll explain," he told me, grinning as he ruffled my hair. I growled at him, but headed down to the locker room anyway. I wouldn't get any more information until I did as I was told. I made it back up to class with a few minutes to spare. "My classes get out at 2 on Wednesdays," Eric greeted me when I entered the karate classroom again. "Your professors have kindly agreed to allow me to train in your karate class and take you out for a run during your club time, so you don't have to cut into your studies," he explained. I nodded, that made perfect sense to me. Our studies were apparently extremely important, especially in the Honors classes.

Since Eric had been studying karate longer than I had, he was higher ranked than me, and we spent all class helping my classmates. We spent most of our time with Mary, since Eric really wanted to meet my friends to prove to mom that I actually had some. When class ended, Eric walked with me back to my dorm and signed in with the dorm attendant. I dropped my things off in my room, growing more and more restless as we walked. I needed to shift out of this human form. Finally, everything was ready and Eric led me out to the woods behind the school. We would finally be able to shift forms!

 


	22. Chapter 22

I should have changed into better clothing for shifting, but I didn't want to take that much time, or risk getting in trouble for being out of uniform. Eric and I strolled into the woods quite a way before we prepared to shift forms. I didn't want to be seen by my classmates naked. Finally, we were far enough away from where any of the students would be able to see us. We each picked a tree on different sides of the trail to strip and shift behind. I was far enough away from Eric that we couldn't see each other, so my modesty was appeased. He was also close enough to come help if trouble came up.  Shifters were supposed to get over the whole being shy about casual nudity thing, but these were strange woods, and I wasn’t there yet. 

I stripped quickly, shivering in the chilly air as I folded my clothes and carefully stowed them under a rock so they wouldn't blow away. The only thing left was my vampire pendant. I was reassured by the grown vampires that it would survive me changing forms. As soon as that was done, I let my hair down, and focused on changing forms, taking in the scent of the forest to help me focus. The change came faster than usual. It had been so long and I was so desperate to change. The pain was terrible as my limbs and bones rearranged themselves. I gritted my teeth and bore the pain. It wouldn't help to scream. Finally, what seemed like an eternity later, the change was completed. I stretched my wolf form, readjusting my muscles to the new form. I shook my coat out and trotted over to where Eric was completing his change. I always shifted faster than my brothers. Most female shifters did.

Once his shift was complete, he came over to me and nuzzled my head in affection. We both looked up at the moon and howled. After a moment, I heard the reassuring howl of my father coming from the direction of our house. We howled again to him, and new voices joined his reply. All of my brothers and mom was with him too. We weren't alone in the woods, just in this section of forest. It was a huge comfort to me that they were all shifted tonight too.

With no warning for my poor brother, I nipped him on the tail and took off running into the forest. Eric growled in annoyance and followed me. The game of chase was on.

We ran through the forest, chasing each other, investigating all of the new smells and noises of the woods. It was a great evening of running and forgetting my problems. They just didn't exist out here. We paused at a steam for a drink when we hear the noise of the deer. She hadn't noticed us yet. I looked at Eric, he had seen her too. He shook his head at me though. We were out of time and there were only two of us. I huffed in annoyance, but agreed that we needed to head back to the school.

We backtracked through the woods to where we had shifted. It took a little while to run all the way back. I didn't want to go back, but I knew that we had to. Even with my special considerations, I was only allowed so much time away from the vampires. The bell tolled from campus. We had been warned we needed to come back when the bell rang again.

We made it back to the spot where we had shifted and both of us were growling when we got there. There were new smells of people in the area. Someone had followed us. When we got back to where we had left our clothes, I realized what they had done. Our clothes were gone.


	23. Chapter 23

Before I could even begin to think of what to do, Eric began to howl. It took me a moment to realize what message he was trying to send. He was howling the song of anger.

We couldn't communicate nearly as easily in wolf form, but there were certain emotions and concepts we could get across easily, including anger, fear, danger, etc.

A reply came from our father. It was a questioning sound. Eric sent the reply, asking for him to come. We needed help.

As Eric was 'talking' with dad, I thought through my options. I could shift into other forms. I could fly back to my room and get some clothes. The problem with that plan, though, was that it would split us up. Eric would never approve. He didn't mind being on his own, but he would never let me go off on my own in what he considered hostile territory. I thought over our conundrum and looked around where our clothes had been. All of Eric's possessions were gone besides his destroyed cell phone. My phone was smashed too. The only other things I had were my vampire pendant and room key.

There was a note left too, under my smashed cell phone. I nudged it carefully until I could see what it said. It wasn't very original: <Go home wolf-bitch. Shifters don't belong!>

I had the feeling that whoever had stolen our clothes was waiting for us to shift back into human form so they could take incriminating pictures of us. That wouldn't help either of us. We had to get somewhere safe, away from the students. The other problem was that campus was busy now, classes were over and dinner was about to start.

It was then that I got an idea. I knew where we'd be safe. I whined to get Eric's attention and pointed in the direction we needed to go. Before he could protest, I carefully grabbed the note and my destroyed phone from the ground, and took off into the woods, toward the school, toward the full vampires, they would help us.

Eric was following me. He was growling. He was pissed that I took off without him, but I knew he would follow. I knew my plan would work. We broke through the trees right by the gym where the karate classes were held. Kinoshita-sensei was still there, she was locking up the dojo as we ran toward her. She was startled when she saw us, but saw my pendant and quickly realized who we were.

"Come inside," she bid, knowing that we were in trouble if we were coming up to her in wolf form. We carefully made our way inside and dropped our burdens of smashed cell phones and the note right inside the door. She locked the door, keeping us safely inside. "Samantha-san, your gi is downstairs in the locker room. The door is unlocked and open. I have an extra that will fit your brother. I will get it out while you go change and then we can talk." I gave her a nod and padded downstairs to the locker room. Eric followed me, but waited outside the door while I shifted back and struggled into the clothes. I was glad I had something to wear again. Kinoshita-sensei brought a spare gi down and promised Eric she'd protect me while he shifted back. I was surprised he trusted her even that much, but he ducked into the locker room to change and left me with the vampire. He came back a couple minutes later, wearing the borrowed karate uniform. "Let's go upstairs and have a cup of tea and you two can tell me what happened." We followed her upstairs and she set to brewing us tea. I was still flustered and upset by what happened and didn't know what to do. I was bordering on shock, and nothing that terrible had happened to me. Eric wrapped his arms around me.

"It's ok to feel scared," he whispered. "We'll make them pay for scaring you and trying to hurt you," he promised. I nodded and let him hold me safely in his arms. He was my brother. He'd always protect me.

"Is the Alpha on the way?" Kinoshita-sensei asked as she joined us with the tea. Eric nodded.

"I contacted him while we were in the forest."

"Then I ask that you tell me your story quickly. I would like for us to be prepared when the Alpha arrives." Eric nodded again and told her the story of what happened. He sounded just like he did when he gave a report to father after a hunt. I realized that dad had been training him for these kinds of political situations. Kinoshita-sensei listened to his story gravely. She didn't interrupt him. "Thank you for trusting me. I promise that you are safe here. The headmistress will meet us all in her office once the Alpha arrives. I will wait here with you until then. Samantha's safety is the biggest priority at the moment." Eric wouldn't argue with her on that point. She made more tea for us while we waited, hiding in the safety of the dojo.


	24. Chapter 24

It didn't take long for my parents to arrive. I had a feeling that they both dropped what they were doing and came here immediately. I felt their arrival, felt the strength of pack as they came near. I could also feel dad's anger. "They're here," Eric told Kinoshita-sensei. She nodded and carefully packed up the tea.

"I will walk you up to the main building." She led the way from her dojo up to the Headmistress' office. Eric walked with me, with one arm wrapped protectively around my shoulders. His touch was comforting and safe. He was pack and pack was safe. It was a quick walk up to the main building. There were no students wandering around campus. I wondered briefly where they all were. It was a nice evening, it seemed strange that no students were outside.

Kinoshita-sensei led us in a staff-only entrance and up a back stairway until we reached the Headmistress' office. I could hear my father yelling from down the hall. Eric felt me tense. "Sam, you can wait out here, I can give the report without you." I shook my head. Dad wasn't mad at me. He was upset with the school and teachers. Kinoshita-sensei knocked once on the Headmistress' door and opened it. My parents were both inside, as well as the headmistress. Mom pulled me into her arms as soon as she saw us.

"Are you ok?" she asked, worried and scared. She was looking over me at Eric.

"We're both uninjured," Eric reported. He proceeded, with dad's prompting, to tell the story about how our clothes went missing.

"I left my only daughter in your care!" My father, no my Alpha, roared. "You promised to keep her safe. She has been attacked numerous times within your walls. I will _not_ let her stay here if you cannot guarantee her safety!" Even I cowered away from his roar. It wasn't even directed at me. My mom held me in her safe arms. The Headmistress did not look disturbed by my father's anger.

"I assure you both that the perpetrator of these attacks has been apprehended. She is being dealt with."

"Dealt with how?" Dad demanded.

"She is being sent to a different Academy across the country. She will be kept far away from your daughter. In regards to your daughter's safety, I realize that the dorms may not be the best fit for her, and her circumstances. Obviously, she must continue to live on campus. She will die if she is not surrounded by full vampires. We have had students in the past who have not coped well in the dorms. There is a small house separate from the dorms that we use in such cases. Usually, we place more than one student there at a time, as there are four bedrooms, but in Samantha's case, it is probably better for her to live there alone."

"Alone?" my mom demanded this time. "She won't be safer all alone. She's also only 15, much too young to live in a house all by herself!" The headmistress nodded her agreement.

"Of course. One of the Journeymaids would be ok living by herself, no one would suggest having an Apprentice live alone. One of our professors will also be living in that house. Professor Rhodes is a first-year teacher and has already volunteered to move into the house as both protection and dorm-matron for Samantha. Samantha, do you have anyone, any friends in your year, that you would feel comfortable inviting to share this house with you? We would not want you to be without companionship, especially since none of this is your fault." I was confused by all of the changes they were making without mine, or my parents', approval.

"How do we know she will be any safer in this house?" my father demanded.

"The only people with keys will be the ones living there. There will be a full-vampire in residence. Even a single full vampire is strong enough to protect against any danger to the house. The house is also right next to the woods, with Professor Rhodes supervising your daughter's expeditions. She will be much safer there than in the dorms." The Headmistress explained to my father. He nodded.

"I will allow this move, then. Sam, you are to report in with us _every_ day, or I will have to assume that there are problems here." I nodded at my alpha's orders.

"Sam, dear, do you have a friend you want to invite to live with you?" my mom asked gently. I wasn't looking forward to living alone, except for one of the professors.

"Mary Vida," I told them softly. "I think she would also do better outside of the dorms. And she was my first friend here." I explained, speaking to my mom, but knowing the whole room was listening to my reply. The Headmistress nodded.

"Then it's settled. The teachers will move your belongings and ask Apprentice Vida if she would like to join you. Professor Kinoshita will show you to your new residence and your family can look over the protections of this new house with you."

It didn't take long to walk down to the house. It wasn't far from the academic building. It didn't seem very large, but that changed once we went inside. Professor Rhodes was already there moving her things in. She smiled brightly at us as we came in. "Welcome, Apprentice Lykos, and family." She set the box down that she had been moving. "Let me give you the tour!" She led us around the first floor, there was a living room, a dining room, kitchen, and bathroom. There was also one bedroom, which Professor Rhodes had claimed. "The student bedrooms are upstairs as well as two more bathrooms. Since you're the first here, you get your choice of bedrooms. Why don't you go pick one while I talk security with your parents?" I nodded and headed upstairs. The house was quaint and cozy. It seemed much nicer than the dorms. The bedrooms were all equally nice and spacious. I picked one at the back of the house, facing the woods. There were plenty of windows and it seemed more airy than the others. It wasn't. They were all the same, but it seemed like it was. There was a key for the room on the desk. I picked it up and locked the connecting bathroom's door before leaving the room and locking it. I wasn't taking chances anymore.

 


	25. Chapter 25

My parents and brother were waiting for me back downstairs. "Did you pick a room?" mom asked, sounding more bright and cheerful than she should have, given the circumstances. I nodded.

"There's a room facing the woods I took a liking to," I told her, trying to sound happy about my change in living arrangements. I knew it was safer here, and that was my family's only concern at the moment.

"Good, let's go get your things," my father added, sounding gruff. He didn't like this situation any more than I did.

It took a couple trips for us to get all of my things and bring them over to the house. They left everything in a pile outside of my new room. They were letting me organize the room myself. I carefully unlocked my door and got to work setting up my new room. It didn't take long to get everything in order. I really didn't have all that much stuff to organize, mostly just school uniforms and supplies. After everything was arranged, I headed back downstairs, firmly locking my door, to bid goodbye to my family.

"Remember, check in every day. Lights out is at 11. I expect your report by then as well," my Alpha ordered. It was different than my father giving the instructions. It was a direct order, one I couldn't disobey, since it was an order from pack, from the Alpha.

"Yes, Father," I replied meekly. That was the only response I could come up with. That was the only thing I could say. He nodded. After another hug with my mom, my family left me in the strange new house.

Professor Rhodes peeked her head out from her bedroom. "Is everything ok?" she asked me. I nodded shyly. It would be strange living with a teacher. She smiled at me. "The Headmistress is speaking with Apprentice Vida in regards to her moving here. I hope that it won't hurt you too badly if she declines…" I knew it was a kindness that she was warning me that Mary may not want to move. Especially since her rotten roommate was being shipped off to another school.

"Thank you for the warning, professor. I should get to work on my homework." It was a good excuse to go hide in my room. She couldn't argue with my reasoning. I really did need to do homework, and she couldn't fault me for wanting to get it done.

"If you need help, let me know!" she smiled, trying to be cheerful. At least there was one plus of living with one of the professors. She would always be here to help with homework in the evenings.

"Thank you," I repeated and rushed back upstairs. Once I was safely locked in my room, I changed into my pajamas. I made sure my room was organized to my standards, then got to work on my homework. It would be a long wait, waiting for word if Mary wanted to move here or not. I hoped against hope that she would.


	26. Chapter 26

Hours passed with no word about Mary's decision. I worked on my homework for awhile alone while answering IMs from my brothers, insisting that I was ok and everything was fine. After my homework was finished and my reading done for the next day, I decided that hiding alone in my room wasn't how I wanted to spend my life. I took my phone and my room key with me and went to explore my new home. I went down to the living room, figuring it was best if I pretended to be social. Professor Rhodes was in the living room, watching a sitcom on the TV while she was grading homework, a goblet of dark red liquid on the end table beside her. She looked up as I walked into the room. "Hello, Samantha," she smiled at me, welcomingly.

"Do you mind if I join you?" I asked softly. She smiled and looked even happier.

"This is your house, too," she reminded me. "You have as much right to the room as I do. However, no, I do not mind if you join me. You can change the channel if you'd like," she indicated the TV. I sank down onto the comfy couch and curled up, tucking my legs under me. I shook my head at her offer.

"I like this show," I told her. It was one my brothers and parents and I would sit around watching the new episode of. It reminded me of home and that made me smile. We spent the evening in companionable silence, making occasional comments about the show or school. It was nice to be somewhere I could relax and be comfortable and safe. I texted my dad before bed and let him know that I was safe and happy.

I made sure to lock my door before going to sleep. I didn't think I would have trouble with Professor Rhodes here, but I wasn't taking chances. I set my alarm and went to bed, hoping tomorrow would be a better day, now that I had a safe environment.

The alarm woke me too early the next morning. I showered and gathered my school things before heading to breakfast up at the school. Professor Rhodes walked up to the school with me. It wasn't far from the house. "Try to get to know your classmates. If you have trouble at meals, let me know and we'll try to make meals ourselves at the house," she promised. "Your safety and well being is our biggest priority right now. But you'll be safer, and happier, if you can make some friends," I nodded. I had been trying to make friends, but it was so hard when everyone seemed to be against me from day one. It was also hard, when Mary hadn't accepted my invitation to move from the dorms. I figured I would have heard by now if she had.

I headed inside and got my breakfast in the cafeteria. I looked for somewhere to sit. Mary waved me over to our usual table. I walked over hesitantly. I wasn't sure I would like what she had to say. She looked down as I approached, her face turning red. "I appreciate that you invited me to move into the house with you…" she started. I quickly figured where this was going. "But I don't think it's a good idea. I'm sorry, Sam, but I need to think about my future and living with you isn't going to make me any better liked by the rest of the vampires," her words stung and I felt tears come to my eyes. I wouldn't give our audience the satisfaction of seeing me cry. "I still want to be your friend!" she added quickly. "I just don't think moving is a good idea. Plus, you'll be safer there alone." I nodded and cut her off.

"No, I understand. Thanks for letting me know." The words caught in my throat as I fought back the tears. I turned, intending to find another table when Shannon, Emily and Meaghan came up to me. Shannon wrapped an arm around me and led me to their usual table with Emily and Meaghan flanking us and keeping people out of our way. They promised that everything would be ok. They were my friends and they weren't going to abandon me. After some sniffles, I gave them a small smile, and thanked them for their friendship and kindness.

"We're friends," Shannon insisted. "That's what friends are for. Now off to class with you, little Apprentice," she smiled at me as the bell rang, warning us all to get to class. I grinned at her and gathered up my things. "If you don't mind the company, we'll come by your place later to work on homework," I nodded.

"I'd like that," I told them as we headed off to our different classes. Things would be ok. Not everyone here hated me, just for my background, just for something I couldn't control


	27. Chapter 27

I made it through all of my classes and lunch. I kept seeing Emily, Meaghan, and Shannon between classes. They always gave me a smile and encouraging word when I saw them. That definitely helped me make it through the day. During classes, I kept my head down and tried not to draw attention to myself. I figured the less attention I drew, the better I would fit in. If I threw myself into my schoolwork, I would win the respect of the adult vampires. I needed the adult vampires to like me more than the kids in my class.

I had lunch with Emily, Meaghan, and Shannon. They were making a game of pointing out the best looking boys in each of the classes. It was a fun game and the arguments over which boys were more attractive and why were amusing. It took all of our minds off of classes and was great for a few laughs.

"Are you going to Japanese club or karate today?" Shannon asked me before lunch ended.

"Japanese," I replied. I hadn't been to that club yet and I needed to show up there too.

Shannon nodded and grinned. Her smile was infectious. "I'll see you there. You'll enjoy Japanese club!" she promised. All too soon, the bell rang and we had to go to class. I at least had things to look forward to now, so that made it easier.

Shannon walked with me all the way to the Apprentice class, insisting it was on her way to her Journeyman class. I didn't believe her, but I appreciated the company all the same.

Unfortunately, Professor McCullen was teaching the Apprentice class today. I didn't realize how horrible of a class it would be. He took forever setting up the PowerPoint presentation, and then just read the slides word for word. He was also glittery, like he was covered in body glitter, or had gotten attacked by a fairy. It was very distracting. I wrote down all of the information from the slides, planning on asking Professor Rhodes about it later. The entire class became even more annoyed when he handed out stacks of worksheets for us to complete before the next time he taught the Apprentice class next week. He then made us spend the rest of the class working on them in silence. To our annoyance, none of the questions on the worksheets were remotely related to anything he had 'taught'. The entire class started whispering with their neighbors to get help with the horrible assignment.

Professor McCullen stood and glared at us all. "Since you have time to talk, you obviously have the capability to take on more work," he insisted and gave us about 20 more pages of worksheets to complete. Everyone groaned. One of the boys tried to protest, and got a detention for his efforts.

Luckily, class finally ended and everyone ran out of the classroom as fast as we could, grumbling loudly about how horrible it was. I wanted to join their conversations and grumblings, now that I finally had something in common to discuss with them. I tentatively made my way over to Mary.

"Rough class, huh?" I asked her, nervous and sounding on-so-intelligent. She gave me a tentative, but guarded smile. It seemed from her expression that she wasn't trusting me for some reason.

"I guess..." she hedged. She separated from me when I got to my Japanese class. I wondered why she wasn't coming to class. I saw her enter the Spanish class down the hall. I had a feeling she had switched classes because of me. I tried to hide my sadness and the hurt I felt, especially when I hadn't done anything to earn her disdain. All I had done was try to befriend her.

Professor Kinoshita saw through my facade. "Is everything ok, Apprentice Lykos?" she asked with true concern. I nodded and tried to smile.

"It was just a little surprising that Apprentice Vida has decided to drop this class," I explained. The other students were staring at me and I realized that I was speaking too formally for them. They thought I was weird again. It was only polite, though, to address my professor formally, especially a foreign professor from a culture that much more highly valued manners.

"That is very understandable. Apprentice Vida has also decided that karate is not the appropriate sport for her," the professor warned me. I thanked her for her consideration. I appreciated the warning that Mary wasn't going to be in my next class either.

"They think you're getting too friendly with the professors," one of my classmates hissed at me. I recognized him from karate class. "Especially since you live with one now. They think anything they say to you will get back to the professors." I looked over at him. He seemed like a typical jock, pretty boy.

"That seems ridiculous of them," I replied. I was a bit wary of talking to my classmates. They hadn't been kind yet, but he had started the conversation. "I think 'they'," I made the air quotes with my fingers "are just looking for reasons not to like me. I hope everyone here isn't so gullible..." I told him. He gave me a real smile.

"I'm sure you can find some people here who aren't so gullible. I know I surely aspire not to be one of the gullible masses." His smile was infectious. He held out his hand to me. "I'm Lucas."

"Sam," I replied, shaking his hand and laughed at how absurdly formal he was being and how absurd it was to introduce myself when everyone knew who I laughed until class started and we had to turn our attention to Japanese for the next hour.

 


	28. Chapter 28

I made it through all of my classes and headed back to the house after Japanese club. I had an idea of how to change things for the better and worked to put my plan into action. I didn't have a whole lot of time. I spent the entire time until dinner cleaning the house and especially my room. I found some oversized beanbag cushions and spread them around the living room table.

Professor Rhodes looked in on me when she got back. She smiled when she saw what I was up to. "Are we expecting company?" She asked. I turned and smiled at her.

"I hope so. I'm going to invite my mentors over to study after dinner." I hesitated and realized she might not approve of this plan. It was her house too. "If that's ok?" I added as an afterthought. I really should have cleared it with her first.

She grinned and her smile lit up her whole face. "That's an excellent idea! I'll make some cookies while you're at dinner." I laughed. She was trying so hard to encourage me and make me happier here. "Your mentors are always welcome here," she added. I relaxed and returned to making sure the living room was as perfect as it could be.

I ran out of time before dinner and waved to Professor Rhodes. "I'm heading out to dinner!" I told her. She waved after me and I rushed up to dinner, excited for once to join the rest of the school.

"Slow down, silly Apprentice, what are you so excited about?" Shannon laughed as I joined her, Meaghan, and Emily in line for dinner. I had skidded to a halt and would have been out of breath had I been less athletic. I grinned.

"I wanted to invite you three to come over to my place after dinner to study," I told them.

"Sounds like fun," Emily replied and I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

"Yeah, we'd like to see where our little sister is living," Shannon added.

"Little sister?" I asked her, confused. Yeah, I was younger than them, but we weren't related.

"It's a Japanese thing," Meaghan explained to me, rolling her eyes. Her voice sounded like she was tired of hearing about Japan all the time.

"Yeah, Shannon's a bit of a weeb," Emily added.

"A what?" Why were they using so many terms I was unfamiliar with?

"A weeabo. It's an unflattering term for someone who likes Japan and Japanese culture. Usually foreigners who get obsessed with anime," Shannon explained. "As for the little sister thing, Japanese upperclassmen sometimes refer to their underclassmen as younger siblings and vice versa."

We got our food and made our way to our usual table. No one bothered me while I was them. I didn't know why they were so feared or respected, but I was grateful for it. I still needed to figure out how to make friends with my classmates, but I could work on that later. Right now, anything besides outright hostility was an improvement.

After dinner, I went back to the house. The girls would be by later with their homework. I went up to my room and got my own homework and took it downstairs to curl up on one of the cushions I found so I could work at the coffee table with the girls. They rang the bell and I jumped to my feet to let them in. They put their homework down in the livingroom and I showed them around the house.

"This place is gorgeous and huge, way bigger than our rooms!" Emily exclaimed jealously. I smiled at them, glad to finally have friends here.

We sat around the table doing homework and talking for hours. Professor Rhodes brought us cookies and answered questions on the assignments. No one seemed to mind that she was around. She didn't hover and stayed in her room most of the time my friends were there, but she was around if we needed help, which was surprisingly nice.

I handed her my phone before my friends went back to the dorm. "Would you take a picture of us so I can send it to my parents?" I asked her. My friends grinned and we took a few pictures, one of which I even made the wallpaper on my phone. We all looked so happy in the group picture. I sent it to my parents immediately, glad I could finally give them some good news.

Once it was almost curfew, my friends packed up their things to leave. Professor Rhodes came back out of her room then. "I'll walk you girls back," she told them. She wasn't taking any chances with anyone's safety. "Sam, stay here and lock the doors," she told me. She also wasn't giving them an option. She was walking them back whether they liked it or not. They didn't bother fighting her and I locked the door behind them when they left. I put the cushions away and cleaned up from our evening while I waited for Professor Rhodes to return. Once she did, I said goodnight and headed up to bed, finally feeling like I was starting to belong here.

 


	29. Chapter 29

I was excited when Friday came. It was not only the last day of classes for the week, but I would be heading home as soon as classes were over. "Why are you so happy?" Shannon greeted me tiredly. I grinned at her, laughing at how exhausted she looked. She grumped at me as I sat down with my breakfast.

"So, why _are_ you so excited?" Emily asked while Shannon continued to grump. I turned to Emily, ignoring the sleepy grumpy Shannon.

"I get to go home tonight." I explained to them. They looked confused, so I continued. "My dad is the Alpha and had some concessions made for my enrollment. I go home every weekend to see them." Emily and Meaghan seemed excited for me. Shannon snapped out of her stupor and looked at me with concern.

"Is one of the adult vampires going with you?" she asked. I nodded.

"Professor Rhodes is going to visit every day. I don't think she's staying with us, but she said that she has to come see me every day I'm off campus for an hour or so." Shannon relaxed.

"It's dangerous for us to be off campus away from the adult vampires," she explained to the others. They nodded, but didn't seem convinced. "Don't forget your pills," she scolded us all before we headed off to class. We all took them dutifully, though I still wasn't clear exactly what the pills were for.

I put that thought from my mind and tried to focus on my classes. It was hard work and I kept finding my mind wandering to getting to see my brothers again. I hadn't ever been away from them for anywhere near this long. I'd never even been to a summer camp before. Now I was off at a boarding school.

Finally, classes ended and I could get ready to leave. I rushed back to my room and packed my homework for the weekend in my school bag and headed for the entry hall to the school to wait for Eric to come pick me up. I was reading my English assignment when he arrived. I jumped to my feet and hugged him the second I saw him. He smiled at me. "Ready to go?" he asked me as he set me back on my feet. I nodded.

"Let's go!" I bounced excitedly. I missed my family.

"Just a minute, I have to sign you out of the school." I rolled my eyes at that, but went with him to talk to the secretary. It only took a minute and then we were finally leaving. Eric drove us home and I felt all of my worries evaporate.

My family was waiting for me when we got home. I was crushed in hugs the second I got out of the car. "You're wearing a skirt!" Dave laughed at me. I punched him in the arm in reply.

"It's the uniform," I grumped at him. I never would choose to wear a skirt otherwise. "I'm sure girls in your school have to wear skirts too." He chuckled and messed up my hair, which earned him another punch.

"Want to go for a run?" Seth asked, pulling me into his turn for a hug.

"Of course!" I ducked out of Seth's arms and ran for the back door, ditching my shoes and socks on the way. The school blazer and tie came next to be ditched on the lawn, followed by the sweater vest. My brothers were laughing, but were running behind me to catch up. I hid behind my usual shifting tree and ditched the rest of my clothes, changing forms into wolf as fast as possible, dealing with the pain of accelerated shifting to finally be at home sooner. I howled when I was safely in wolf form in the woods with my brothers. I took off running through the woods. A minute later, I heard the howls of my brothers. They had finished their shifts and were chasing me.

The chase was on and I was finally home.


	30. Chapter 30

We ran through the woods, chasing each other and just playing as wolves. I had missed this. There were no vampires in training harassing me out here. It was just my family.

Our fun ended when we heard our father howl from the house. He was calling us back. We ran to obey him. I shifted back behind my usual shifting tree and put my uniform back on after shaking the leaves out of it. I gathered the rest of my abandoned clothes on my way back up to the house.

Mom stopped me when I came inside. "We couldn't tell you when you got home, everyone was too excited to see you, but we're having dinner with some of the other shifter families tonight. I set out a dress for you to wear," she told me firmly. I looked at her questioningly. She always wanted me to wear skirts and dresses, but it was extremely rare for her to force me to, at least not since I was a little kid.

"Why do I have to wear a dress?" I demanded, scowling at her. I had to wear skirts all week, why did I have to wear a stupid dress that I couldn't move in or properly fight in?

"This is important, Samantha. This is a meeting of the shifters to discuss our future. It will help your father if you can _pretend_ to be a normal shifter daughter for the evening. I know it's not your fault, but he is facing a _lot_ of flack from the other alphas for you being Chosen. The more we can do to reassure them, the better." She told me. Before I had been Chosen, I don't think she would have bothered to explain herself. I felt more grownup now that she was enlightening me on their choices, involving me in the future of the pack.

I nodded submissively. I'd do anything to help dad. "Yes, mom." I just hoped the dress she picked out wasn't too awful. I went up to my room and dumped my armful of clothes into the hamper. I saw the dress laid out on my bed. It actually wasn't bad. It was still a dress, but it was a pretty shade of blue and knee length. I'd still be able to fight in it if necessary. I made sure to wear cute underwear just in case. The dark blue dress complimented my hair, which I managed to twist into a knot at the back of my head and make look presentable.

I noticed that the dress did show off the vampire pendant around my neck. It couldn't be helped. I wasn't allowed to take the pendant off. When I was dressed and ready, I headed back downstairs to find that my brothers were all wearing suits. At least they couldn't laugh at my dress this way. Seth looked like he was going to anyway, but I glared at him and he gave up.

Father grabbed his keys and we all filed out to the car. The car was really an SUV, one of those models that seated seven people comfortably. We were heading to the meeting hall. I knew this was a big meeting when we were going there. Meetings called at the meeting hall were rare, except for formal occasions and celebrations.

I became more and more nervous, wondering what this meeting was really about. It wasn't long before we pulled up to the rustic meeting house. It had been my other home for years, where we spent Christmases and celebrations with all of the packs who lived nearby. I dreaded going in there now with a vampire pendant around my neck.

It took all of my courage to leave the car and even more to stand on my own and not hold on to one of my brothers' hands, like a scared little kid. I was the future of the pack. I had to start acting like it. I followed my parents into the meeting hall, with my brothers following me. It was my proper place. I'd never taken it before, still a child until after the Choosing. Eric looked at me surprised when I took the place he usually did, but he allowed me my rightful spot as our procession entered the meeting hall.


	31. Chapter 31

I held myself straight and tall. I was the future of the pack. I had to start showing them the confidence I wasn't sure I felt. All eyes turned to us as we entered the meeting hall. We made our way to our customary table at the front of the room. There were more people here than I had been expecting. I thought this was only going to be a small meeting. That's what mom had seemed to indicate. It appeared that she hadn't been telling me the whole truth on that one...

I took my seat next to mom. I looked over the crowd more carefully once I was seated. Their attention was on my father. I realized that quite a few of them were watching me. I think they realized something was different about me. Not only was I wearing a dress and not pouting about it, but my posture and demeanor was different. The shapeshifters were sure to notice. I could hear the mutterings about maybe I was growing up after all and accepting my role in the pack.

I had never denied my role in the pack. I just wasn't ready to get married. I wouldn't before I completed college regardless. Father had already agreed to that. However, I could make sure I wasn't appearing defiant to the other shifters. It was bad enough in their eyes that I was Chosen. If being Chosen meant that I grew into my role, maybe they would be more ok with it.

Dad looked over at me and smiled, nodding his approval of my change in demeanor. I knew I was doing the right thing at that small gesture. He stood to address the crowd. "I called this meeting tonight to show you that my daughter, Samantha, is well, even with her unusual circumstances." He explained to the crowd. The uproar began then.

"How can she take over the pack if she's a bloodsucker?" one voice called.

"She should take a mate now before the change!" another voice added.

Father raised a hand to silence them. "Samantha will take a formal mate when she is ready. Her new status as one of the Chosen will not affect her future in the pack. I have been reassured by the vampires. They are trustworthy in this matter. Even they cannot lie to a werewolf." He explained to the crowd. "I do not intend for Samantha to marry until after she has finished college. However, I will allow your sons to begin courting her. In an _age appropriate_ manner," he added that last part with a glare towards a group of teenage shifters. There were some chuckles from the crowd about the nature overprotective fathers. It was something they could all understand, the overprotective nature of shifters towards their wives and daughters. Everyone in the room understood and tensions eased.

Mom stood up next to Father and the crowd looked to her, gentling their expressions even more. Mom was well loved in the shifter community and she was well respected. "With that dreary business out of the way, let us begin the celebration of Samantha's 15th birthday!"


	32. Chapter 32

The moment mom took her seat again, the muttering started. Fathers were hurriedly giving orders and instructions to their sons. I tried my best to ignore them. I tried to focus on dinner, focus on everything but listening to the other tribes talk about how best to have their sons woo me. Or if they even wanted their sons to woo me. I knew they would all decide that I was still eligible. Marriage to me was the only way to take over my Father's pack.

Eventually, they would all come to the conclusion that it was worth the risk, even if I was one of the Chosen.

I wasn't looking forward to the wooing starting. I wasn't opposed to dating, or getting married someday. I had even known most of these boys for my entire life. They had been friends, classmates. They were children of my father's friends. They were in our lives all of the time. Under the watchful eye of my father, though, they had remained nothing more than friends. They were very careful not to express interest in front of my father or brothers. I was too young, still a child in the shifter community. Until tonight. Tonight, I was magically old enough and had to deal with teenage boys. I had no idea what I was getting into. No one had prepared me for this night.

I understood that they hadn't trusted that I would take the responsibility. They were going to blindside me with it. I was blindsided and had no idea what to do. Dinner would be over soon, and then the socializing and carefully watched wooing would begin.

I looked over the crowd again as I worked to calm myself and figure out how to handle this new situation. I realized when I was looking over the crowd that I wasn't the only girl here of dating age. I knew all of the shifter girls even better than their brothers. There weren't many of us, so we were all close.

I scanned the crowd again until I saw Lily. She was a year older than me and we had practically grown up as siblings. I cursed myself for not thinking of her sooner. We had grown apart the last year or so when we didn't go to the same school anymore and she was being courted. She looked up at me and I caught her eye. She gave me a smile. I knew that she would help me. I just had to get ahold of her before the boys swarmed on us. She nodded and I let out a sigh of relief.

The moment dinner ended, she and the other girls came up to our table. I jumped up to greet them. There were hugs and giggles and excitement. The boys stayed away. I think they were too scared by all of the estrogen to get near.

"Help me," I pleaded quietly to Lily. She grinned.

"Of course!" Our gaggle moved a little ways away from the table. The adults were standing to gather and socialize as well. Most of the fathers were gathering near the group of girls, keeping a protective eye on their daughters.

"They aren't going to do anything tonight besides remind you of their names and express interest." Lily told me. I wished I had paid more attention to these events previously, instead of chasing my brothers around. "And their interest might actually just be their fathers' interest," she reminded me. "Don't take offense at that. They aren't scary. They aren't going to hurt you." She reassured me. I nodded and relaxed.

I made a note to myself that I needed to get back in touch with these girls. I hadn't realized how much I had missed them while I was so busy over the summer taking entrance exams and worrying about my own future. I needed to do better at keeping in touch with them. All of them, from little Kaylee who was only 7 and just wanted to hang out with the big girls, to Kim who was 22, graduating from college soon, and engaged.

"We better go reintroduce you to the boys," Lily grinned. The younger girls broke off to play some kind of clapping game near their fathers and brothers. For the first time, I went with the older girls toward the other side of the meeting hall where the teenage boys were.


	33. Chapter 33

I tried not to show my fear as I walked with Lily over to the younger group of teenage boys. I felt them watching me, appraising me. I hated it. These boys had been my friends and playmates at the beginning of the summer. They were strangers now, assessing my value as a potential mate. I hoped that tonight wouldn't change them. It had.

I forced my fear down. I would lose any respect they had for me if I let them see my fear. A moment later, Eric broke away from where he was talking with the adults and came to my side. His presence would ensure the good behavior of the hormone crazed teenage boys. I saw the eldest brothers of the other girls hovering nearby too.

There were about twenty boys vying for my attention. I noticed, more importantly, that Caleb was standing off to the side, not fighting through the crowd for me to notice him. He smiled at me when he caught me looking at him. I grinned back at him. At least he hadn't changed. The rest of the boys sorted themselves and started coming up to me wishing me happy birthday. They reintroduced themselves, making sure I knew what family they were part of. I took notes of which families made sure their son was in this group. I caught Eric's eye and knew that he was making the same notes. We would report it to dad later.

I didn't put too much interest in who was actually offering themselves up as potential mates. Every boy here would be indicating interest unless he was already taken. In the next few weeks, the serious contenders would announce themselves.

I _did_ take notice when an older unmated male came up to me. He was older even than Eric. I didn't know who he was, as I hadn't spent any time with him before. I heard Eric snarl from nearby, drawing dad's attention too. "Would you dance with me?" the stranger asked me, offering me a hand. He hadn't done anything inappropriate, so I had no valid reason to refuse him. He made my skin crawl, but that wasn't an appropriate reason. I took the hand he offered and let him lead me onto the dance floor. Eric and my dad were both watching. He couldn't do anything under their watchful eyes. I kept reminding myself of that as we danced.

Until he leaned down to whisper in my ear. "No one is going to want you, leech. They pretend now, for your Father's sake. They'll breed you now and kill you before you turn," he hissed. I stiffened, but tried not to let his words affect me. Dad would kill him in a heartbeat if he knew what he was saying.

"They'll do no such thing," I hissed back at him, while trying to keep my expression pleasant. I didn't want to cause a fight on my birthday. I tried to break away from him, but his grip tightened and I couldn't without drawing negative attention.

A moment later, help came. "May I cut in?" a male voice asked. The stranger and I both looked over. I was relieved to see Caleb. The stranger snarled softly, but bowed and let Caleb dance with me, backing away so as not to draw my father's anger.

"Thank you," I whispered to Caleb, truly glad to see him.

"Do I need to go kick his ass?" he asked.

"Not tonight. Dad would kill him if he knew he was causing issues," I told him. "He didn't do anything except say some unkind things," I added, blinking back tears. The strangers' words hadn't even been that bad, but it was all too much.

"Hey, don't let some asshole get you down," Caleb said, concerned and getting that overprotective streak that shifter males tended to acquire. "I'll still go kick his ass. Or hold his arms so you can do it." He grinned and got a smile out of me in return.

“Thanks,” I replied with a smirk.  He was being too nice to me, but that’s just the way Caleb was.

"There shouldn't be tears on your birthday." He reminded me. "Oh, Katie made me promise to ask if you'd come running with us tomorrow. We promised her she could run with us, but she'd be happier if you came too,"

"I'd love to!" I told him with true excitement. Katie was a sweetheart. She was 7 and just getting a hang of her shifting. Shifters didn't really start shifting until 6 or 7. Her mom had died when she had Katie. My mom and I spent a lot of time with her.

Caleb smiled at me. "Great, I'll let her know. We're heading out at noon. I'm sure at least one of your brothers will be joining us too." I nodded. That was a given. They'd never let me go by myself to running. They wouldn't protest that I was going, or be upset. They just wanted to make sure I was safe.

"She's here tonight, isn't she?" I asked him. I hadn't seen her yet and that was surprising. He nodded and we stopped pretending to dance he pointed over at where my mom was sitting. Katie was over with her. Caleb came with me as I went over to see her.

"Sammi!" she exclaimed when she saw me, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah, Sammi," Caleb whispered so only I could hear him. Katie was the only one who got away with that particular nickname. I felt myself blushing when Caleb used it, though. I opened my arms and Katie ran to me. I lifted her into a hug, swinging her around so she giggled. I held her on my hip to talk to her.

"So your big brother said you wanna go for a run tomorrow?" She nodded.

"Caleb said he'd go run with me. He was s'posed to ask you to come." I smiled at her.

"He asked. He did a good job. I'm sure it was very hard for him to remember something so important." Katie giggled and I stuck my tongue out at Caleb who was spluttering in protest. "And I told him I'd be happy to come run with you."

"Yay!" she squirmed out of my arms and went running to her dad to tell him the good news. I smiled after her.

"She's such a sweetie," mom commented. I nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for agreeing to come run with us. She's more comfortable shifting with you there to walk her through it," Caleb told me. I nodded. I was always willing to help a younger shifter. We were all basically one giant family and family always helped each other. Caleb looked over at Katie and his dad waved to him. "Looks like dad's ready to go. We'll see you tomorrow. Thank you Mrs. Lykos." he turned to me with a wicked grin. "Happy Birthday, Sammi." He smirked, knowing that I couldn't retaliate in front of my mother. I'd get him back for it later, though. I promised myself that.

 


	34. Chapter 34

The party lasted until late in the evening. I had to dance with all of the eligible boys before the night was over. It was a pain, but it was also tradition. It was also annoying as I knew I wasn't going to remember the boys who were putting themselves up for consideration once this night was over. I was just assuming all of them were going to. It was a safe assumption.

I was glad it was a Friday night and I could sleep in, in the morning. It had been a long day, though, as I'd had to be up early for classes, and I was grateful when we could finally leave. Eric wrapped an arm around me as we walked back to the car and I leaned against him. I didn't need his support, but shifters were creatures who craved physical touch and company. My brothers were always supportive. We climbed back in the car and I laid my head tiredly on Eric's shoulder the entire way home, much as I had done after almost every one of these shifter meetings. They always lasted too long, especially as dad was the leader and had to stay well past when everyone else went home. Eric shook me awake once we were home. At least he didn't have to carry me up to my bed anymore... Though I think he kinda missed it.

Dad came up to me once we were home. "You did a good job, Kitten. I'm proud of you," he told me. I couldn't help but grin. Praise from dad was extremely rare.

"Thanks, Daddy," I replied. He gave me a hug and kissed my forehead.

"Off to bed with you," he said softly, gently. I started heading upstairs, but turned to Eric before I forgot to ask.

"Katie asked me to come running with her tomorrow. Will one of you come with me?" I asked. Eric was the oldest, so he'd make arrangements. "They want to start the run around noon,"

"Yeah, I'll give you a ride," he shooed me off to bed. I stuck my tongue out at him, but headed upstairs. I ditched the dress for comfy jammies as soon as my bedroom door closed behind me. I still hated dresses, but had worn it because it was necessary. I checked my school email before bed.

'Don't forget, we have a meeting tomorrow morning at 10am' The email was from Professor Rhodes. I sighed. I had forgotten. At least she wanted to meet at the Starbucks just down the street and I didn't need special permission to go that far, or an escort. My parents weren't going to argue over me meeting with one of my teachers either.

I fell into bed, exhausted. At least I had something to look forward to tomorrow.


	35. Chapter 35

I didn't get to sleep in as late as I'd like. I had too many things to do this morning. I still got to sleep in more than usual, though, and that was a relief. So was getting to wear jeans again. I hated wearing skirts all the time at school. I headed downstairs to breakfast, in my usual jeans, tshirt, and flannel shirt I'd stolen from dad's closet. Mom looked over at me as I came into the kitchen and sighed. I grinned at her. I'd never be the perfect daughter she wanted. "Morning, mom!" I greeted her, giving her a hug. No self-respecting fifteen year old would willingly hug their mom, but it had been a long week at school, and we were shapeshifters. Physical contact was expected.

She kissed the top of my head. "Morning, Sam. I'm making pancakes for breakfast. Will you go wake your brothers? The pancakes are almost done," I nodded and bounced back up the stairs to annoy my brothers awake.

I received one thrown alarm clock, a couple attempted whacks with pillows, an attempted punch, and a ton of swear words they would never let our mother hear for my efforts. I giggled at them and bounded back downstairs, setting the table while we waited for them to join us.

My brothers came clomping in once everything was ready. Lazy boys avoiding all the work. Dad came in last and refilled his coffee before he took his usual seat. I sat next to him, in my usual seat, after kissing him on the cheek.

We ate our pancakes and I listened to all of the shifter gossip I had missed for the week while I was away at school. I missed Saturday morning breakfasts. I hadn't realized how much I'd miss normal mornings with my family.

I helped my mom clean up the breakfast dishes. The boys wandered in an out of the room. I didn't pay them much attention as I was helping mom. When I turned back to the table, I saw that it was covered in birthday presents and a small cake with a candle in it. "We never got to celebrate your birthday properly," dad explained. I grinned at them all.

"Thank you!" They sang and I blew out the one lonely candle, wishing for school to go well. There was also a secondary hope that pleasant boys would be the ones trying to woo me, now that I was available. I knew that birthday wishes could only go to one thing, and my education was the most important thing, so that's what I wished for.

Mom took the cake to the counter, so she could cut it in a bit. First would come presents. Eric handed me a giant box. "It's from all of us," he explained. I opened the crudely wrapped present to find a scrapbook, camera, and a miniature printer.

"You're going on your own adventures now," Seth explained, "we thought you'd like to keep a memory of them." I jumped up out of my chair to hug each of them.

"Thank you," I told them, earnestly. I wondered how much influence mom had on their present choosing, but it was a great thought and I loved them for it.

Mom handed me the next present. Inside was a gorgeous porcelain doll. She looked just like me, but in miniature. She even had little wolf ears and a tail. "She's beautiful," I told mom. I usually didn't appreciate dolls, but this one was gorgeous and so well made. Mom smiled.

"It's tradition to receive a final doll for your fifteenth birthday. It symbolizes the last childhood gift," she explained. I gave her a true smile.

"I love her. Thank you, mom." I set the doll aside gently, since dad was handing me a small wrapped box. I had never known him to pick out a present himself, much less wrap it and deliver it. He always left such things to mom. I took the box from him and carefully unwrapped it. I knew this present had to be important.

Inside was a beautiful silver bangle bracelet. It had no decoration except for an infinity symbol. It was simple, but I could tell it was expensive. It also smelled slightly of magic. "Traditionally, it is a promise ring, but the shifters have changed the tradition slightly, since fey made bracelets won't be affected by shifting. It's a promise. I'll always be here to guide you. As you grow into your own, remember that your father is always here for you. Whatever happens, you can lean on me, and I will always help you," I hugged him, holding him tightly. I couldn't imagine a world without my father in it.

"Thank you, Daddy. I love it," I slipped the bracelet on my wrist, and knew I'd never take it off.


	36. Chapter 36

We ate my birthday cake and I took my presents up to my room, leaving them with the stuff I'd be taking back to school tomorrow night. The alarm beeped on my phone and I cursed. I had to rush to my meeting with Professor Rhodes, and I had yet to tell my parents about it. Oops.

I ran downstairs and kicked my shoes on. I found mom still in the kitchen. "I have to go to a meeting with one of my teachers," I told her. "I'll be back in plenty of time to head over to the Lykos'," I turned to leave, but she stopped me.

"Where is this meeting? Do you need to take one of your brothers?" I tried not to sigh. I didn't need that much protecting.

"It's just at the coffee shop down the street. I don't need an escort that far," I told her, trying not to sound grumpy. She looked worried, but finally consented. I was 15 and should be able to walk a couple of blocks by myself.

"Ok, but be careful,"

"I will, mom," I promised her. I checked my pocket for my phone and rushed out of the house, nearly running so I wouldn't be late. I made it just in time and saw Professor Rhodes already had a table and two coffees in front of her.

I went over to her and sat down at the table. "Sorry for making you wait," I told her, trying to be polite.

"Not at all. I got here early to catch up on grading with coffee," she smiled at me and indicating the stack of homework she had in front of her. "I got you a mocha, they're your favorite, right?" I nodded.

"Thank you, how much do I owe you?" I asked, reaching for my wallet. She shook her head.

"My treat," she replied. She set a container on the table in front of me. "Your vitamins from the school," she explained. "That's part of why I wanted to meet you, to make sure you took them." I took the pills she offered. They were identical to the ones we had to take every day so I swallowed them without complaint. "You also need to spend time around adult vampires until you transition." I nodded. I remembered the warnings that we would reject the change if we didn't spend time around the adult vampires. That's why we had to go to a boarding school after all. "How is your weekend going?"

"Ok..." I hedged a bit uncomfortable with her asking. She was a teacher after all. Was she trying to pry into shifter politics? I realized she was just being friendly when she looked a bit hurt. "We had a big birthday party with the extended family last night." I was careful with my wording so I didn't give away too much information. "And my parents had a small celebration with just my brothers and them this morning. I'm going to visit one of my friends later this afternoon,"

"How are your classes going?" she asked.

"Going well. Though this essay for Apprentice class is kicking my butt." School was a safe subject for discussion, and it seemed obvious that Professor Rhodes had to keep me here for a certain amount of time to be safe.

"Oh? Which essay?" she asked, truly curious and concerned.

"Professor McCullen set us an essay to discuss why vampires should not have friends outside the vampire community," I told her. I hated this essay. Professor Rhodes looked thoughtful.

"And what do you think?" she asked.

"It doesn't make any sense," I complained, the words just falling out of my mouth. "Vampires have different skills than humans and shifters, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends with them, that we can't all help each other,"

"What about immortality?" Professor Rhodes was playing devil's advocate.

"Immortality can be an asset. Older vampires will remember historical events and can be great advisers."

"But won't it hurt to watch your friends age and die while you remain looking like an 18-20 year old forever?" she asked. I thought over that.

"Yeah, that would be a downside..." I still wasn't convinced, though. "But not enough to never form any relationships. I'm a shifter. I can't just abandon my family or my people, and that's what this essay is making it sound like we need to do,"

"Professor McCullen won't take any personal anecdotes in his essays, though. I would recommend sticking to the facts. You don't have to agree with what he's saying. His essay is asking why, theoretically, vampires should not be friends with non-vampires. Stick to the facts on why they should not be friends," Professor Rhodes offered her advice. I nodded and thanked her for her advice. She was helping me get a passing grade on the assignment, even if it wasn't what I agreed with. That's all I needed right now, especially when faced with Professor McCullen.

Professor Rhodes checked the time. "You're all set. I'll see you tomorrow at the same time," she told me. I nodded and headed out so I wouldn't be late to my next appointment.

 


	37. Chapter 37

I made it home in plenty of time to turn around and head out to the Silverwolf's. I found Eric upstairs in his bedroom. "Are you coming with me to the Silverwolf's?" I asked him, standing at his doorway, so I wasn't _technically_ entering his room without permission. I'd also be perfectly fine going by myself, but that would never happen, especially with a vampire pendant around my neck. That was too far to go without an escort, especially since I was meeting with other shifters.

"Let me finish up this stupid assignment. I'll be downstairs in a sec to take you," he replied, not looking up from his computer. He was in his first year of college this year. He had picked a school close to home so he could be near us. He had been expecting to need to be near me, to be my escort. He hadn't been expecting me to be Chosen any more than I had.

I bounded down the stairs and waited for Eric by his car. I hoped next year when I turned 16, my parents would get me a car. It would make coming home to see them every week easier. I doubted it would happen though, since anywhere I'd want to go by car, they would deem unacceptable for me to go without an escort. That was an argument for next year, though. I had enough on my plate without borrowing trouble from the future.

Eric came down shortly and the car beeped as he unlocked it. I hopped in the passenger seat, impatient to go see Katie. If I was being honest with myself, I would admit that seeing Caleb would be pleasant as well. The trip over to their house was short. They lived close to us.

One of Caleb's brothers opened the door when we walked up the steps. Katie was peeking out from behind him. "You came!" she cried and ran running out to greet me. I swept her up into a hug and swung her around. I set her down and she grabbed my hand. "C'mon, we're almost ready to go run!" She dragged me into the house.

"Hi Carl," I greeted Caleb's brother as he stepped aside to let us in. Eric followed behind, but waited for an official invite inside from Carl. I was female and welcome in any shifter house without question, especially since I was unmarried. He was male and needed an invitation.

Katie dragged me through the house and out to the changing house near the woods. It was a small cabin originally designed for Katie's mom to shift in to run. She had been weirdly afraid of nudity for a shifter, so her husband had built her this cabin. Katie and I, and mom when she came over, shifted there. Katie's dad was waiting outside of the cabin for us. "Hello, Mr. Silverwolf. Thank you for inviting me over," I told him formally. He nodded.

"Thank you for agreeing to come run with Katie. We will be waiting for you two just inside the treeline," he told me. He turned to go join his sons. Carl and Eric were coming now to join them. I turned to head into the cabin.

"Sam!" I turned to see Caleb waving to me from the door to the house. He jogged over to meet me. I took a few steps toward him, to show my interest in speaking to him, but I also wasn't going to leave Katie alone. Caleb skidded to a stop in front of me.

"Aren't you coming on the run?" I asked him. He shook his head and looked sad by it.

"Dad won't let me. Haven't finished my homework for the weekend yet." He grumbled. "He doesn't care that they gave me a shit ton of homework. He won't let any of us go on a run on the weekend until the homework's done." I smiled at him anyway.

"We'll miss you out there, but we'll see you for dinner, right?"

He nodded. "Wouldn't miss it," he told me. Katie was peeking her head out of the cabin, still in human form. "You better get going," he chuckled. I nodded and turned to join Katie.

"See you later," I called to him.

"See you, Sammi!" he called back. I stuck my tongue out at him, vowing to give him a stupid nickname to annoy him with as I ducked into the cabin and closed the door behind me. Like all shifter dwellings, the cabin had doors that could be opened with paws in animal form. Katie and I stripped and shifted into wolf form. I shifted faster than she did, but I had more practice at it as well. Her wolf form was still a fluffy puppy, maybe a 6 week old wolf pup in nature. My wolf form was almost fully grown. I made sure she had caught up to me before I opened the door.

We stepped outside and I found Caleb was still there, waiting, and guarding. Katie bounded up to him, barking. Caleb chuckled and knelt down to pet her. "Good job munchkin. I'm sure you're going to have a lot of fun running as a puppy," he told her as he pet her. Puppies needed praise, even if they were human most of the time. I followed Katie from the cabin over to her brother, but didn't rush. I knew she wasn't in any danger from her own brother. He looked over to me, then reached out and gave me a scratch behind the ears. I wagged my tail for him, appreciating the attention. "Now that you two are shifted, I need to get back to my homework. Go have fun." I licked his cheek and Katie and I ran off to the woods to join the boys.

The boys circled around Katie when she broke the treeline, greeting her with licks and puppy barks. I stood back, not part of this greeting. Just because I treated her like a little sister, didn't mean I was actually a part of this family. Eric came over and rubbed against me. We weren't natural wolves, so we communicated a bit differently than real wolves. I licked his nose. I was grateful for him coming up to make me feel better, and feel more included.

Katie came bounding back over to me. She barked once. I turned to her and nipped at her tail, keeping my teeth plenty far enough away from her that we both knew that I was just playing. She took off running and I knew she'd be giggling had she been in human form.

The boys were running through the woods too. Two of them, Eric, and one of Katie's brothers, stayed near us as we ran. I finally slowed when we were deep in the woods and took off down a trail much more slowly. It was time to teach Katie a new skill. I growled at the boys to warn them to keep their distance. Katie wouldn't learn with them around. I knew the boys would stay close enough to help if danger materialized, but they would let me teach Katie.

I knew Katie wouldn't want to learn this skill, but she needed to. I sniffed the trail until I found the scent I was looking for. I pointed it out to Katie with a paw. She sniffed it and gave me a look that was both interested and a bit confused. I stuck my nose back to the ground and we followed the scent. Once we were close, I stopped Katie and smacked her gently on the rump so she would sit and watch. I rushed into the brush and grabbed the rabbit whose trail we had been following. It tried to run, but I had snuck up well and it didn't stand a chance. I grabbed it and shook it so it would die quickly of a broken neck instead of a heart attack due to fear. I dropped it on the ground in front of Katie. She whined. I knew she wouldn't want to learn this lesson, but she had to learn how to feed herself if something happened and she was stuck in the wild alone. Once I tore the rabbit open for her and she smelled the fresh meat, though, animal instinct took over and she was happy to eat it.

While she ate, I searched for another trail for us to follow. I found it and went back to her, getting her attention, I showed her the trail, then nudged her forward to follow it. She whined at me, but I was firm. She needed to learn how to do this.

We spent the afternoon following rabbit trails and practicing sneaking up on them, until she was able to catch one for herself. I shifted to human form when she had, ignoring the fact that I was naked in the middle of the woods. "You did it!" I exclaimed, so very proud of her. She shifted back too, though it took her a few minutes and she had tears in her eyes when she was human again.

"I-I killed it," she sobbed at me. I wrapped her in my arms.

"I know sweetie. I know. It's hard the first time. We usually don't have to hunt to eat, since we're human so much of the time. It's something you had to learn how to do though. You might not always have your brothers and dad around to help you. If you got lost in the woods all alone, you have to know how to eat." I explained to her. "Your dad is going to be so proud of you," I promised her. She stopped crying, taking in my words. It seemed to calm her, and make her feel pride in her actions to know that her father would be proud. It was just as I expected. "Wanna head back so we can tell him how awesome you did?" I asked her. She nodded and we both shifted back to wolf form.

As we headed back to the main trail, I heard the howls. I knew in an instant that they weren't our wolves. I snarled, then turned to Katie. She was my charge. I raised my head and howled an alarm. The boys would come running. I ran over to Katie and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck. I took off with her down the trail, heading back for the house as fast as I could. It wasn't enough. We found ourselves surrounded by strange wolves. One of them shifted freakishly fast into human form. He looked like a biker. I realized that these were wolves who had been kicked from their packs. They all looked like fighters.

"Look boys, two females for our pack," the biker man told the others, who howled their approval. I set Katie down and stood over her protectively, snarling at the wolves who surrounded us.

Moments later, Eric and Katie's brother rushed biker man. I grabbed Katie again and ran through the gap they had made for me. I didn't look back as I ran. I trusted them to be able to take care of themselves for a few minutes until the rest of the boys could reach them. My job was to get Katie to safety. So I ran. I threw all of my strength and experience into that run, into gaining as much speed as I could. We were father out from the house than I had planned. We had wandered most of the way, though, so I could take a much shorter route back. I didn't stop running when we broke through the treeline.

I didn't slow until I reached the house. I opened the door and carried Katie inside and upstairs. Her room was the farthest from the stairs. Any intruder would have to get passed all of her brothers and her father to reach her room while she was sleeping. I stood in the hallway in front of Caleb's door whining. We needed his help. He burst out of his room. "Sam, what's wrong?" he asked. I was panting, so out of breath from my breakneck run through the woods. I lifted Katie higher and he reached out to take her from me. I turned to head back out to the fight. I had to help. Caleb grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and dragged me into his room. "No, you're not going back out there until you tell me what's wrong," he slammed the door closed and stood in front of it, physically blocking me. I huffed at him. I didn't have time for this, but I knew I wasn't going to win without physically hurting him, which I wouldn't do. I started to shift back so I could talk to him.

Caleb moved away from the door when it was obvious that I was going to tell him what was going on. He set Katie gently on his bed. She scrambled off the bed in fear and hid under his bed. Caleb let her be. She was safe. He started digging in his dresser while I shifted. He set a pair of jeans and a t-shirt on the bed before taking up a post near the door where he could pretend that the poster hanging on the wall next to the door was extremely interesting.

I finished my shift quickly and dove into the clothes he had left for me. While shifters were fairly casual about nudity, being naked in Caleb's room basically alone was not comfortable, or casual. I was grateful that he had thought to give me something to wear. He had gone through a growth spurt recently, so he was taller than me now and he was starting to fill out with muscles. So his clothes were too big on me. There were no mirrors in his bedroom, so I couldn't see how ridiculous I looked, but that wasn't important at the moment.

"A group of strange wolves accosted us in the woods. They wanted to take me and Katie. Our brothers are out there fighting them now. I have to go help them!" I told him. I tried to push past him, but he stopped me, standing back in front of the door.

"No, Sam. Call you dad. Ask for backup. We're not going out there. None of us. The three of us are staying in his room,"

"You stay here with Katie, I'll go back out there to help them," I protested. He shook his head.

"No way, it's too dangerous. They want you. You said it yourself. The best place for us is locked in the nice safe house. I'm going to stay here to help you protect Katie." I sighed. I wasn't going to get past him. He was appealing to my desire to help by asking me to help him protect Katie. He was protecting me, but treating me like an equal at the same time. He had to protect us. It was his job as a male shifter, but he didn't have to let me help him. Dad wouldn't have let mom help. "Stay here with her. Call your dad. I'm going to lock up the house and make sure none of them have snuck inside." I nodded.

"Be careful," I bid him. He grabbed a metal baseball bat from beside his desk before he headed out. I touched his shoulder. I wanted to give him some sign that I cared, but I didn't know what to do. He gave me a lopsided grin anyway.

"Don't worry, Sammi, I'll be perfectly fine," he left the room with me still spluttering at him for the nickname. At least he had cheered me up and calmed me down some.

Thankfully, he had left his cell phone behind. Mine was still out in the cabin with my clothes. Even better, he had no lock on it. I dialed dad's cell phone number from memory and dug in Caleb's closet for a belt. His jeans were too baggy on me and I needed something to help hold them up. I also rolled up the bottoms. I needed to be able to move if I had to fight. Or run.

Dad picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"

"Daddy, there's trouble at the Silverwolf's house. We need help," I told him without preamble as expected.

"Are you safe?" he asked. I could hear the stress in his voice. That was his first priority, making sure that his daughter was safe.

"Yes. Katie, Caleb, and I have locked ourselves in the main house." I told him. I could feel his approval in the phone.

"The boys and I are on our way. Stay where you are. Tell me what happened," he told me. I explained the situation briskly.

"You're leaving mom alone?" I asked him, concerned that if someone was coming after me and Katie, they might go after her too.

"No, she's coming to help Katie. Stay where you are," he repeated the instruction. "If it's safe, wait for us on the first floor. I'll honk the horn three times when we get there."

"Okay, daddy," I replied. I heard howls out in the woods and felt fear for Eric and the others out there.

"I love you,"

"I love you too." With that, we hung up. I slipped Caleb's phone into the pocket of my borrowed jeans. I knelt on the floor by Caleb's bed.

"Katie, we're safe now, but we have to go downstairs to wait for my daddy to get here. Your daddy will be coming back soon too. My mommy's coming too, to spend time with you," I told her. She crept out from under the bed. "It's ok sweetie. We're safe in the house," I held my arms open and she ran into them. I picked her up and carried her from Caleb's room back downstairs. Their livingroom was right off of the entry hall.

"Caleb. Dad told me to wait for him down here," I said the words loudly enough that he should be able to hear me wherever he was in the house. I didn't want to startle him by not being where he expected me to be after he had locked up the house. I set Katie down on the couch. I hadn't actually expected her to stay with me, and she didn't. She disappeared to hide in a corner of the room under one of the end tables. She was safe there, so I let her be. I sat on the couch where I could watch out the window for my parents to get here. Caleb came to join us. I handed him his phone. He sat next to me on the couch and wrapped an arm around me.

"They'll all be ok," he promised. I nodded and leaned into him, taking comfort in his touch.

 


	38. Chapter 38

I curled myself in Caleb's arms, taking comfort from the presence of another shifter. All shifters were reassured by physical contact. I was glad he had stayed behind from the hunt so he could help us now. It was strange wearing his clothes, too, as I was surrounded by his scent. It was a new experience, but it definitely was not unappealing. "You're freezing," he told me. He shifted and took off the hoodie he was wearing and handed it to me. "Sorry, dad keeps the house cold. It's usually not an issue when all of us are in here..." Male shifters tended to run extra warm. I had a pet theory that it made them more desirable to female shifters, who were always cold. The hoodie had St. Xavier's school logo on it. I slipped it on, then curled back into Caleb's waiting arms.

"Thank you," I told him, anxiously watching out the window for my family to arrive. We also both kept glancing toward the back door, waiting for any of our family to return from the fight.

It seemed like forever before dad's car pulled into the driveway. I knew it had really only been a few minutes. He honked the horn three times, as promised. I jumped to my feet, but Caleb grabbed me by the back of the loose hoodie. He stood and kept me from doing anything impulsive. "You stay in here. Guard Katie. I'll let them in," he told me firmly. I grumbled at him for being stubborn and snarly, but he was right. So I stood in the doorway to the livingroom and let him go answer the door. Still, he waited to open it until everyone was up on the porch. Once he had recognized everyone, he unlocked the door and let them in. Mom entered first. Dad wouldn't leave her outside when there was potential danger for a second longer than he had to. My brothers filed in, then dad behind them. Caleb closed and locked the door again once they were all inside. Mom turned and saw me in the doorway to the livingroom, armed with Caleb's baseball bat. She rushed over and wrapped me in a hug.

"Are you ok?" she asked, all worry and overly mom like attention.

"I'm fine, mom," I promised her. It took a couple more tries to convince her I was ok enough for her to let me go. "Mom, I'm fine, but Katie needs you. I don't know how to help her," I pointed to the end table that Katie was still hiding under. Mom headed over to the scared growling puppy. She would know what to do.

My brothers headed for the backdoor. They were just waiting for dad's word to head out. Dad turned to Caleb once he knew that Katie and I were indeed safe. Caleb straightened his spine, standing at attention with the alpha's attention on him. "Report," my father said simply. Caleb told the story as he knew it. Dad nodded when he had finished. "Good job, son. You stay here with Karen, Sam, and Katie. We'll head out into the woods to look for the others."

"Yes, sir," Caleb replied. Dad and my brothers headed for the treeline to shift. Caleb closed and locked the door behind them. Mom had coaxed Katie out from under the couch and was trying to convince her to shift back to human form. I couldn't just stand around and be useless.

"Where are the first aid supplies?" I asked Caleb. I had a feeling we were going to need them.

"Most of them are in the bathroom down the hall," Caleb pointed. I knew where it was, though, we had been here often enough. I padded down the hall and raided the bathroom for first aid supplies. They had a huge supply, as we did. I carried them into the mudroom by the back door, figuring that would be the easiest room to work in. By the time I had finished, mom was in the kitchen with a human Katie making food for the boys for when they came back. They would be hungry after the fight and from shifting. Caleb was standing by the back door, waiting and watching.

I heard a howl and we both looked out the back door. I saw the wolves break the treeline. I knew we both wanted to unlock the door and run to them, but caution and training kept us in our places. "Go to the kichen. Stay with your mom and Katie. I trust you to get them to safety if something goes wrong," I nodded and did as he bid. I would illegally drive dad's car if that's what it took to protect my charges.

"They're coming back," I told mom. She nodded and bustled about making sure whatever she had cooked wouldn't burn while we took care of our wounded.

There were no issues with the wolves, and Caleb let them in when they made it to the house. They shifted back once they were inside. Now wasn't the time to be squeamish about naked men. They needed first aid. Thankfully they weren't in terrible shape. Eric needed stitches for a gash in his arm. There were some sprains and scrapes, and cuts, but overall everyone was ok. I helped with the bandaging and first aid. Both my father and Mr. Silverwolf were looking over my outfit appraisingly, though I'm not sure what either of them had expected me to do when my clothes had been out in the cabin.

"We scared them off," dad told us, "but we couldn't find out why they were actually here. It was a lot of risk, even to get ahold of two females for a pack." The last of Caleb's brothers finally came back, carrying everyone's clothes. He set most of them on a pile in the mudroom, but handed me my clothes from the cabin.

"Thanks," I told him. He blushed at being addressed by a girl. He was younger than Caleb after all. "I'm going upstairs to change," I told my mom, so she wouldn't worry.

"You can use my room," Caleb told me. "I'll be down here helping with the bandages." I nodded and went back upstairs. I changed in Caleb's room, as he had offered and it was way easier than changing in a cramped bathroom. I folded the clothes he had lent me, though kept his hoodie on for now. It was chilly in here, even for a shifter house. I turned and saw his desktop background before I went back downstairs. The image was a picture of the two of us dancing at my birthday party last night. I smiled at that and went back downstairs to join the others.

"Thanks for letting me borrow these. I'll wash them and get them back to you," I told Caleb. He took the clothes from me and tossed them to his little brother.

"Don't worry about it," he told me. "Throw those back in my room, will you?" he asked. His brother grumbled, but did as he asked. "And you can keep the hoodie," he told me with a grin. I blushed. I had meant to ask if I could keep it for a little longer.

The meal my mom had made was almost ready. She and Katie were putting the finishing touches on it while the boys set the table. Mr. Silverwolf came up to where Caleb and I were chatting near the staircase. "Good job today, son," he told Caleb, who looked both surprised and pleased by the praise.

"Thank you, sir," Caleb replied. It was a little strange for him to call his father 'sir', but Mr. Silverwolf was a military man and kept some of the traditions in his own house.

I tried not to squirm under Mr. Silverwolf's gaze as he tuned it on me. I knew he noticed that I was still wearing Caleb's hoodie. It was one thing for Caleb to let me borrow clothes than to be naked. It was another that I was still wearing them when I had my own clothes back. It was an indication that I had accepted Caleb as a potential suitor. Which I realized I had. He was one of my best friends after all. "Thank you for saving my daughter today. We owe you a great debt,"

I shook my head. "It is my duty to protect those weaker than myself. She's just as much my little sister. I wouldn't leave her undefended," I told him. I didn't need praise for doing what was expected of me.

He smiled indulgently. "Still, you saved her. It will not be forgotten,"

"Thank you," I replied. It seemed to be the only reasonable thing to say.

"Dinner's ready!" Mom called from the kitchen. We helped her bring the stew pot and bread to the table. Mr. Silverwolf sat at one end, and my dad sat at the other. Mom sat to dad's right and Katie right next to her. I moved to take my usual spot next to Katie, expecting that Eric would sit next to me as he usually did. I was surprised when Caleb took that chair instead. Eric gave him a soft snarl, but didn't push the issue.

I looked over at Caleb. "That was brave," I told him. He grinned at me.

"Your brothers are going to have to be less protective of you sometime. Might as well get them used to it while you're perfectly safe." I rolled my eyes at his fake bravado.

We ate dinner in companionable conversation. Everyone was trying not to talk about the fight. No one wanted to scare Katie again, now that she was finally feeling safe again. I had a feeling either her father or one of her brothers would find her in their bed that night. None of them would turn her away either. A furry bodyguard would make any seven year old feel safe.

"I'll come visit you tomorrow," mom promised Katie as we were leaving. Seth had decided he would drive home with Eric and I had to ride in dad's car.

"Will you come too, Sammi?" Katie asked me. I looked at her and smiled.

"If I can. I have a lot of homework to do, but I'll try to get it done tonight so I can come see you tomorrow, ok?" She nodded, accepting that answer. I knew she would. Mr. Silverwolf drilled into all of them that school was most important. "Did you tell your daddy what you did today?" I asked her. I had forgotten that her accomplishment got lost in the drama of the afternoon. She turned to Mr. Silverwolf.

"I caught a rabbit all by myself!" She told him proudly. He smiled.

"Did you?" he asked gently. She nodded and bounced.

"Sammi taught me!" she told him.

"That was a very good job indeed," he picked her up and gave her a hug. "Why don't you go pick out a story for us to read after your bath?" he asked her. She rushed off to do what he asked, a tiny ball of sunshine.

"See you tomorrow," Caleb told me. He knew me too well. I'd do what I had to tonight so I could come see Katie, and incidentally him, tomorrow.

"We'll amp up security here. I don't want you to think your wife and daughter are not safe to come visit," Mr. Silverwolf told my dad.

"I trust you. Today was just an unfortunate incident," dad replied.

"I am lucky your daughter was here, and so well trained," Mr. Silverwolf replied. I blushed at the praise given to my father. I wouldn't claim it for myself, but any praise given to dad about me, I'd accept.

"Oh, Sam, I forgot in all the excitement. I have your birthday present," Caleb ducked back inside and came out a moment later with a small wrapped box.

"You didn't have to get me anything!" I protested as he handed it to me. "I haven't gotten you anything for your birthday." I felt bad about that now.

He grinned in reply. "You still have time. It's next week." I knew that. I was just so surprised to have seen him at the Choosing that I had forgotten his birthday hadn't actually passed yet. "Dad only took me to that Choosing so the ceremony would be over before classes started. He didn't want to take away from my studies for it and got permission to bring me in a few weeks early. Kids do it all the time, as long as it's close to your 15th birthday,"

"I'll have to get you something good then," I replied. I turned my attention back to the box he had handed me. I opened it carefully and found a beautiful wooden carved wolf figure inside. "It's gorgeous," I told him as I lifted it out of the box. "It looks handmade,"

His smile didn't fade. "I made it myself," he replied.

"Thank you!" I told him and gave him a hug. It was the best I could do with so many witnesses. "I love it!"

"I'm glad you like it, Sammi," he said the nickname softly, without any sarcasm behind it. I couldn't find it in myself to be mad at him for it this time. "You should get going. Before your dad kills me for hugging you too long," he whispered in my ear. I nodded.

"Nice desktop background, by the way," I told him with a glint of mischief in my voice. I darted to dad's car and hopped in with a last wave to the Silverwolfs.

 


	39. Chapter 39

"Are you sure you're ok?" mom asked on the way home.

"I'm fine, mom. All I did in that fight was run away," I told her. I was still grumpy that I hadn't been allowed to go back and help the others in the fight. I had hated leaving Eric out in the woods without any others of the family to help him.

"You did your job, and you did it well," dad said from the driver's seat. "Your job was to protect Katie. The best way to do that was to get her out of that situation and to somewhere secure. Guardwork is about protecting your charge, even if you have to retreat from the battle with her to do that."

"Yes, father," I replied. I knew all of this, but it still felt like copping out when I had run from the battle and hadn't returned to help. I also knew that I would have been a distraction to all of the fighters on our side. I knew it was the right decision, but it still rubbed me the wrong way. I wasn't some pampered little princess who needed protecting.

"What did Caleb give you for your birthday?" mom asked. I handed the box up to her so she could see the wolf statue he made me.

"He said he made it himself," I told her proudly. I didn't know why I was proud of something Caleb of done, but it was a better present because it was handmade. I had to figure out how to give him an equally awesome gift. I wasn't good at too many crafty things, but I had an idea brewing. I just hoped he would like it.

"It's beautiful," mom said as she handed me the box back.

We arrived back at the house soon and I headed upstairs to do my homework. I did stop first at the foot of the stairs to tell mom that I had to go to the coffee shop in the morning to meet with my professor again. She wouldn't argue with something that I had to do for school. Especially when the results of skipping it could mean my death...

I bounded up the stairs and put my wolf statue with the other things that were going back with me to school tomorrow. I wanted it on my desk at school. I plopped down on my bed and dug out my laptop, intending to get to work on my homework. I got distracted uploading pictures of my birthday party to Facebook. I also sent messages to Lily and Melissa. I hadn't kept in as good of contact with either of them as I should. So I spent the evening chatting with them, and Caleb who contacted me an hour or so later, while I worked on my homework.

-Have any of the shifters started trying to court you yet?- Lily asked. A few of them were courting her.

-Caleb Silverwolf is.- I replied. I figured it was safe to say he was interested, especially when his Facebook profile picture had suddenly changed to the same picture of us dancing at my birthday party that was his desktop background. -No one else yet-

-Let me know if Dean Lyall or Gabe Freki start wooing you-

-Are they your frontrunners?- I asked her, curious as to why she'd be asking me about them.

-Yes. It's not that I don't trust them, but you're the next closest and the newest eligible girl...-

-I understand. I'll let you know, though I'm sure if they're interested in you, they won't bother with me-

The shifter boys would be loyal to her until she chose one officially. She was only 16, so that wouldn't happen for a couple of years at least. I wasn't expecting many suitors, since I was tainted by being Chosen.

-How's your new school?- Melissa asked me.

-Not nearly as awesome as any school with you in it- I replied. I missed my best friend. I knew I wouldn't be able to be as close of friends with her anymore. I was Chosen, and a shifter, and things were getting too complicated and dangerous for human friends.

-High school is SOOOO much better than middle school. Way cooler people, minus you of course.- Melissa went prattling on about her new friends. I knew she'd be ok without me. We had survived middle school together, but we were both moving in different directions now. I had a feeling our friendship was going to be strictly online now.

I updated my profile picture to a picture of me at my birthday party and finally got to work on my homework. I tried to ignore the notifications coming in, especially the comments from people who had seen Caleb's profile picture, asking if he was my boyfriend. At least the shifter girls didn't bother asking. They would know that I wouldn't pick a boyfriend until I had at least a few more candidates. I had to pick not only someone I liked, but someone who would be a good leader for the shifters.

-How's the homework going?- Caleb asked. I sighed. I was never going to get this assignment done.

-Not great- I admitted. -Everyone in the universe seems to want to talk to me tonight. It's a nice change of pace from school-

I realized after I had type that last part that I shouldn't. I hadn't told him about my school troubles yet.

-What's wrong with school?- he asked.

-Teenagers aren't nice no matter where they are. I'll tell you the whole drama later.- I promised. I really wished I had started my homework earlier. I had anticipated having tomorrow afternoon to do it.

-How much homework do you have left? Should I leave you alone until tomorrow?- I didn't want to tell him to leave me alone.

-Not much.- I lied. -Just a chapter to read in Dracula, a few geometry problems, a few questions to answer about the biology chapter we're on, a STUPID essay for my vampire class, and my Japanese assignment.- I whizzed through the geometry and biology homework. Neither class was one I terribly cared about, but since I didn't have friends at the school, I spent most of my time studying and knew the material. The Japanese homework went quickly too. The only difference was that I liked Japanese class, and Professor Kinoshita.

-That sounds like a lot- Caleb called me on my lie. He had waited almost an hour to reply, though, which had given me plenty of time.

-Nope. Down to the stupid essay and the one chapter to read. Both of which I can do tomorrow. :) - I planned on doing my essay while I sat with Professor Rhodes tomorrow. She would help me with it.

-You should check the news. There's some trouble with the vampires- Caleb told me suddenly.

I flipped on my TV and saw what he was talking about. There was an attack on a pair of vampires who had gone out to see a movie tonight. The assailants were claiming they hadn't known the couple were vampires. No one was believing them, as the vampires were the only ones attacked. There were five other attacks in the same nature in the city tonight. The vampires were all ok. Fully grown vampires were extremely hard to kill. The media was trying to blame the vampires for not being obvious about what they were. These weren't the first such attacks either, just the most in one night.

I knew things were going to change at school because of this. I just hadn't had an idea yet how much


	40. Chapter 40

I went to bed after the news. I had a feeling tomorrow was going to be an intense day and I'd need all the rest I could get. I was looking forward to my meeting with Professor Rhodes for the sole fact that I hoped I would be able to get more information from her.

I had a quick breakfast with my parents the next morning. It was Sunday so my brothers were sleeping in as long as my parents would let them. I had my laptop in its bag with me. I was intending to write that essay with Professor Rhodes so it would be right. "Did you hear the news last night?" Dad asked. I nodded.

"It's a terrible thing that happened. The shifters aren't in danger, are we?" I asked him. I was still a shifter first and vampire second.

"No, we're safe. The humans haven't turned on us, mostly because they still aren't entirely aware that we're real." Dad had wanted secrecy for the shifters. This was why. "Are you sure you have to go to the coffeeshop?" he asked me.

I nodded. "I have to meet my Professor there." He glanced at my necklace.

"Can't you at least hide that?" he asked. I shook my head again.

"We have to wear it openly, so the humans can't say they didn't know we were vampires," I told him, trying not to cower under his disapproval.

"That didn't help the vampires last night," he grumbled. I nodded. I couldn't argue with that.

"Oh, there's an announcement," mom drew our attention to the TV which was set to the news.

"Following reports of attacks on vampires across the country last night, the president has made an executive order. The United States will not tolerate attacks on the vampires in our country. The executive order states that any attack on a vampire is a life sentence offense. And the perpetrator will be caught. Vampires are cherished US citizens and will be treated as such." Vampires were all throughout the US and had a lot of important jobs. They were all throughout the military, especially since they were harder to kill than normal humans. Those with vampiric abilities used their truth telling or mind-reading in legal situations, or worked in politics. They were highly paid experts, and the president obviously wanted to keep them happy with this decree. "The vampire council has agreed to take measures to make sure vampires outside of their cities, neighborhoods, and schools are more easily identifiable so there will be no confusion on the part of would-be assailants. The US government and police across the nation will have a zero tolerance policy on the issue of vampire attacks,"

I checked my phone for the time after the announcement. "Drat, I'm going to be late. I should only be there any hour or so." I told my parents. I grabbed my bag and stood to leave. Dad stood too.

"I'll drive you," he told me gruffly. I could tell he still wasn't happy that I had to go, but he wouldn't stop me either.

"Thank you daddy,"

We rode in silence to the coffee shop. Dad pulled in and parked the car. He was going in with me. I couldn't argue with him, but I didn't have to like it. I rushed inside and found Professor Rhodes at the same table she had been sitting at yesterday. And she had a mocha for me. I smiled at her as I took my seat. "Your dad decided to come with you today?" she asked me when I sat down. He was heading over to order a drink for himself.

I nodded. "He was disturbed by the news of what happened last night," I told her. She nodded. I took a sip from my mocha. "Are you sure I don't owe you anything for the coffee?" I asked her. I felt bad that she wasn't letting me pay. She shook her head and handed me my vitamins. It was then I noticed her hands. I stared at the tattoos on the backs of her hands.

"You did hear that the vampire council is taking steps to ensure that vampires are more easily identified?" I nodded and she continued. "They decided that hand tattoos for all vampires would fulfill that requirement. You'll be getting yours this evening once you return to school." I looked hers over more closely. On her left hand was tattooed a beautiful hourglass. The outline of the hourglass was black and the sand inside was blue. On her right was a half moon, surrounded by eight stars. "The stars are years of schooling. I think the moon tattoo will also be more stylized based on a vampire's profession and skills," she explained.

My emotions were running too quickly. It was one thing to wear a necklace that marked me as a vampire apprentice, but to be tattooed? That was a way more permanent. Would the shifters deny me even more? I couldn't worry about that, though. I had to get the tattoos. There was no choice in the matter.

Professor Rhodes helped me write my essay for Professor McCullen. I had it finished and submitted by the time our hour was up. I thanked her for her help and went to go find my dad. He was sitting nearby, reading the newspaper and sipping on his coffee. He looked up as I came over. "Ready?" He asked me. I nodded. He downed the rest of his coffee and stood. He walked over to Professor Rhodes. She stood to greet him. She offered him both hands, palm up, a greeting of submission among the wolves in human form. He looked surprised for a moment before placing his hands on top of hers, just for a moment. "I understand that Sam has to meet with one of her teachers every day while she is off campus," he said.

Professor Rhodes inclined her head. "Yes. It is a precaution for her safety." They were speaking quietly so as to not draw too much attention to themselves. He nodded.

"You are welcome to meet at our house," he told her. His tone left no question that it was an order.

"That is a very generous offer. I will take you up on it next weekend," she replied pleasantly, acting as though it weren’t an order, but a kind offer.

With that business taken care of, dad and I headed back to the house. I didn't mind that my Professors would be coming to the house for an hour or so a day. Especially if it was Professor Rhodes. I liked her, and she was great at helping with homework.

We got back to the house to find four strange cars in our driveway. I heard dad's growl and it only got louder as he exited the car. "What's going on?" I asked him.

"Your suitors all wanted to put themselves up for consideration before you go back to school," he growled. I didn't blame him. He didn't want four teenage boys showing up to try to woo his daughter.

"I'll try to get rid of them quickly," I told him. I had no interest in dealing with this today either. We stepped into the livingroom and I saw the four teenagers all trying to stop growling at each other. They stood when I entered the room. Two of them I knew fairly well. Jacob Maccon was 15 as well and had played with Caleb and the rest of us until they reached the age where girls were icky. We were still on friendly terms, though. Liam Cuan was 16 and had also spent a lot of time with us growing up. Their families were family friends and I wasn't surprised they had put themselves up for consideration. The other two I knew by sight, but didn't actually know them. They introduced themselves first, since they were strangers to me. Ethan was 17, just old enough to have hung out with the older kids when I was growing up. He looked nice enough, I just didn't know him very well. The last was a 19 year old named Graham. He went to the same school as Eric, and something about his aura made me distrusting of him.

Dad growled at him. "And what, pray tell, do you have in common with a 15 year old girl?" he snarled at the boy. Graham paled, but stood his ground.

"I wish to get to know your daughter, and I know I am strong enough to protect her, sir," Graham answered. Dad continued to growl, but didn't kick him out right away.

The boys each gave me a birthday present. It could also have been considered a courting gift, but they were smart enough not to call it that in front of my father, especially when my birthday had been so recent. It would however, give me an opportunity to judge them and maybe cull one of them from the courting process. Liam got me a book on the history of karate.

"Thank you!" I told him, truly meaning it. I hadn't expected to actually be impressed with any of their gifts. I should have known they, or their families on their behalf, would have put effort into picking something that would impress me enough to let me give them a chance. "I've been meaning to read this, but haven't been able to find a copy." Liam breathed a sigh of relief. I gave him a quick hug, enough to thank him, but not enough to get him growled at by my watching father.

Jacob got me a collectors set of all the old shapeshifter monster movies that we loved to make fun of. During the summers we all piled into someone's livingroom to eat pizza and watch bad horror movies and make fun of them the entire time. I laughed when I saw them. "Thanks! I needed my own set. I can't host movie night without the movies," I grinned and gave him a hug too. The other two were looking a bit nervous about their gifts.

Ethan handed me his gift next. I opened it to find a collection of shapeshifter books obviously rescued from the used bookstore. I didn't care that they were used. He had put effort into finding a gift he thought I'd like in the budget he could afford. I didn't hold that against him. "My sister really likes these. She said they're almost as good as the bad movies,"

"That's a glowing recommendation. I'll definitely check them out," I told him with a smile. I gave him a hug too. He'd get jealous otherwise.

Graham handed me his gift then with the arrogance of any male shifter. "These little boys obviously have no idea what a female wants for a gift," he chuckled and looked over at the other boys, and the gifts they had given me. "What girl wants a book on karate?"

"Um...I do. I've been training for years," I told Graham, wondering how to politely kick him out of my house. I opened his gift and groaned. I didn't even try to hide it. It was some kind of makeup set. It looked expensive, but I knew how to use absolutely none of it. "Um...thanks..." I told him. It was rude to not thank him, but I couldn't force myself to put effort into it. Especially when he seemed like such a sleeze.

He held his arms open. "Where's my hug?" he asked. I snarled at him for that. I was not some prize to be bribed with gifts in trade for physical contact. I passed the makeup set to my dad and stepped toward the hulking Graham. He didn't see it coming when I grabbed him and threw him over my hip, so he landed on his back on the floor.

"Your hug is with another girl," I snarled at him.

"I think it's time you go home, son," my dad said calmly. He grabbed Graham and hauled him to his feet and dragged him out of the house. The other three boys and I chatted for a little while. It felt just like the summer movie showings and was comfortable and friendly. They weren't pushing themselves on me, just expressing interest.

"We're getting ready to go visit Katie," mom said a little while later. "Say goodbye to your friends." I nodded and the boys and I walked to the door. I said goodbye and thanked them again for the presents. I ran upstairs and put my presents on my bed. I grabbed my phone and Caleb's hoodie and ran back downstairs and into the car my parents were climbing into. "Did you finish your homework?" mom asked.

"Almost. I just have a chapter of Dracula to read tonight. I'll finish it before bed," I promised them. I had to go back to school after dinner tonight.

Katie was waiting for us when we got there. She ran up and hugged me the second I got out of the car. "You ok, sweetie?" I asked her, picking her up and holding her on my hip. She whimpered and buried her head in my shoulder. I looked up at Mr. Silverwolf, hoping he would explain her strange behavior.

"She's been terrified since the incident yesterday," he explained gently.

I turned my attention back to Katie. "It's ok sweetie, I promise. Listen, would it make you feel better if you learned how to protect yourself?" I asked her. She perked up and her wolf ears peeked out from her hair.

"You'll teach me?" she asked, all excitement and adorable.

"I'll get you started," I told her. "I can't teach you every day, though. I have to live at school during the week," I reminded her. She pouted at me.

"But I wanna learn. I wanna be strong like you!" She whined at me. I sighed.

"Let's get your first lesson in, then we'll work on the rest," I told her as I set her down. She scrambled back in the house.

"We have a workout room downstairs," Caleb told me as I walked toward the house. I smiled at him.

"Want to come help?" I asked. He nodded and we walked down to his basement, which was mostly a giant gym. Katie was already waiting for me.

We spent the entire time before dinner teaching Katie self defense moves and how to shift just her claws, which would be a great deterrent against human attackers. I also showed her how to throw someone bigger than her. And demonstrated on Caleb. Multiple times.

Katie giggled every single time I threw him and Caleb didn't argue against it either.

"I'll try to teach you more next weekend, and we'll see if there's anything we can do to get you more lessons in the meantime." She ran upstairs to tell her dad all about the lesson.

"Did you have to throw me quite so many times?" Caleb asked, rubbing his sore back. I laughed at him.

"It made her smile. I hated seeing her sad and scared," I told him. He nodded.

"It's been awful. I hate that she's so scared by what happened."

"Oh, I didn't tell you about this morning yet, and sleezy Graham." We sat down on the mats and I told him about the boys coming over and their presents and how sleezy Graham was, including me throwing Graham and dad kicking him out of the house.

"Glad you took care of that sleezeball," Caleb finally said. He seemed jealous about the other boys coming over. I didn't blame him, but he should know that other families were going to have their sons express interest in me. It wasn't fair to any of them that we were expected to date multiple shifter boys at the same time, until we were ready to pick one to be a husband.

Mom came downstairs a minute later. I think she was checking to make sure we weren't up to anything inappropriate. I don't know why she would think we were doing anything, especially with all these people in the house. All we were doing though was sitting on the practice mats and there was about two feet of space in between us. She smiled when she saw us. "Dinner's ready," she announced. I was grateful she wasn't scolding us, especially when we hadn't done anything.

"Thanks mom," I jumped to my feet and headed upstairs.

We had a fairly uneventful dinner. I sat between Katie and Caleb tonight. Katie spent the entire dinner practicing shifting just her claws. Unfortunately, we had to leave too soon. "I'm sorry," I told Katie. "I have to go back to school tonight," I reminded her. "I'll see you next weekend," I promised her. Somehow I'd find a way to keep that promise. I said goodnight to the boys, and Mr. Silverwolf before I turned awkwardly to Caleb. I didn't know what to do with him. He had expressed interest, but I had no knowledge of how to date, and had only been allowed to start dating two nights ago. So I decided to treat him just like I had previously, just like my oldest friends. So I gave him a hug.

Once we were home, I ran upstairs to change back into my uniform and gather the things I was taking back to school, which happened to include a couple of the books, and the wolf figure from Caleb. I also had to make sure I had all of my homework. Dad was supposed to drive me back to school the second I was ready. I headed back downstairs, encumbered by the things I was bringing back to class.

"There's been a change of plans," dad said when I had hugged all of brothers and mom goodbye for the week. He opened the door and outside was a school car. It looked like some kind of armored vehicle. Professor Rhodes got out of the passenger seat.

"I'm sorry to change plans on you, Apprentice Lykos, Alpha," she addressed the last to my dad. She was more formal in front of the other vampires. There was one of the vampire guards driving the car. "We felt it safer to pick Apprentice Lykos up in one of the armored cars." Dad nodded. He would allow it.

"Let me know when you're there safely," dad told me. He gave me a hug before he walked me to the car.

"I will, daddy," I replied. I kissed his cheek and got into the car. It was an awkwardly silent ride back to the school. The upside was that the car could drive right up to the house I was living in on campus. Professor Rhodes helped me bring my things inside and up to my room.

"The tattooist is downstairs waiting for you. Are you ready?" she asked me gently. I gathered my courage and nodded, even though I was far from ready. "I'd suggest changing into your pajamas first. Your hands will be sore afterward. We'll be waiting for you downstairs." I texted dad quickly to let him know I was back safely, then I did as she asked, and met her and the artsy looking vampire girl who was waiting in our livingroom with her tattoo equipment. I really didn't want to do this, but I had no choice.

I didn't know how long it took. I tried to zone out and not pay attention to the pain. In the end, I had an hourglass on one hand, with no sand in it yet as I hadn't graduated to a full vampire. The other hand had the moon and one star.

"Thank you for your service," I told the tattooist when she covered the marks I hadn't wanted.

"They should heal extra quickly, since you're a shifter." I nodded.

"I'm not feeling very well. I think I'm going to go to bed," I told them once she was done. Professor Rhodes nodded understandingly.

"A lot of the students took the new tattoos poorly," she said sympathetically. I went back up to my room and locked the door. I wanted to be alone. I worked on my Dracula reading for an hour before I realized that I didn't want to be alone. I wanted someone to make me feel better. My hands had healed by then, so I could take the bandages off. I took pictures of the tattoos and sent them to the four boys who were still in the running for my affections. They had to accept what I looked like now. I still didn't know how to tell my parents about it. All vampire students were emancipated minors, but my parents were still a huge part of my life, since I was also a shifter.

I didn't know how any of my suitors would react, but I had hopes at least one of them wouldn't run away screaming.

And I had a preference on which one I wanted to stay by my side.

 


	41. Chapter 41

I wasn't surprised when Caleb contacted me first. I was surprised when he called me instead of texting. "Hello?" I asked, a bit confused as to why he was calling.

"Are you ok?" he asked me without preamble. "I didn't want to text. Your hands still look like they hurt." That was thoughtful of him, though he sounded like he was breathing hard, like he was running.

"Are you?" I countered. "You sound out of breath,"

"I was out running. I'm fine," he replied.

"Physically, I'm fine," I told him. I sighed heavily. "I didn't want this. Any of this. I wanted to just be a normal shifter. Being Chosen and going to a good school isn't awful, even if my classmates suck. Even having to wear the vampire necklace in public wasn't terrible. But they branded me. They branded all of us. And I hate it!" I sobbed into the phone. "I hate that they did this to us without our consent," I hated sobbing. I had always considered myself strong, even if I was judging my strength on male standards. Big girls weren't supposed to cry.

"It'll be ok, Sam. No one is going to think less of you for this. I know I'm not going to think of you any differently, just because you have a couple awesome tattoos." I stopped crying when he said that.

"You mean that?" I asked, sniffling. I was hoping he wasn't just saying that so I wouldn't kick him out of the running.

"Open your window," was his reply. Followed by him hanging up on me. I stared at the phone in disbelief. He hung up on me! His words made it through my addled brain then, and I went to my window. Caleb was sitting on a tree branch outside of my window. What the hell was he doing here? The vampires would kill him! I opened the window and stepped back so he could climb in.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice a whisper so Professor Rhodes wouldn't hear and find out he had snuck in. He answered by wrapping me in his arms.

"I'm here for you," he told me softly.

"The vampires and both our parents will kill you if they find out," I reminded him, but that didn't stop me from wrapping my arms around him as well.

"I don't care. I had to come see you. I couldn't just leave you hurting alone,"

"Thank you," I whispered. I let him hold me for a few minutes longer.

"Will you let me see them?" He asked. I nodded and stepped out of his arms. I held up my hands for his inspection. "These are mostly healed already, but they'll be better after your next shift. Are you up to shifting now? I'll stand guard for you," he promised. He knew I didn't feel safe here, and I'd be in the most danger in the middle of shifting forms. He also didn't want to leave me here with a handicap of injured hands, no matter how much they had healed already.

I nodded again and turned my back to him so I could undress. He stood by the door, keeping guard. I shifted into wolf form as fast as I could. It hurt some to rush the process, but it was worth it. I padded over to Caleb when I had shifted so he could give me a couple of pets before I shifted back. He chuckled at me, but obliged. "I'm supposed to be guarding you," he fake grumbled at me. "I can't guard you and pet you at the same time," I whined at him and wagged my tail. He scratched me behind the ears. "I petted you, now go shift back," he chuckled. I turned and shifted back to human form and put my pajamas back on. My hands were still a little sore, but it was negligible.

"Thank you," I told him. He turned to me and smiled.

"I'm just glad you're ok."

"You should get out of here before you get caught." He nodded.

"In a minute. You promised me a story, though, of why it sucks so much here. It's just a normal high school, right?"

"It's fairly normal. It's just that the other freshmen don't like me. I'm a shifter and weird. It's really hard to make any friends here. There's a couple older girls who are nice enough. Not having many friends here just makes the weekends even more enjoyable,"

"I'm sure you'll make friends once they realize that you being a shifter isn't something they should be afraid of," he promised me. I smiled and gave him a nod.

"Thanks. I'm sure you're right. But you really should go home before you get caught," I reminded him.

"You're ok now?" he asked. I nodded and started pushing him towards the window.

"I'm fine, but you'll be very very dead if you don't get out of here before the vampires find you." He fake fought me as I pushed him to the window, but he agreed to go.

"I'll see you this weekend," he promised. He turned to face me and leaned down and kissed me quickly.  Before I could figure out what he was doing or how to react to it, he disappeared out the window and into the night. I could't call out to him without drawing unwanted attention. So I did the only thing I could. I closed my window, turned off my lights and climbed into bed.

I fell asleep still thinking about that kiss.

 


	42. Chapter 42

I woke early the next morning so I could check messages and my school email before classes started for the day. There was a school wide announcement that physical education classes were cancelled for the day so the students could have more time to recover. They healed more slowly than the vampires and shifters, since they weren't full vampires yet. I was still planning on seeking out Professor Kinoshita. Maybe she could figure out how to help me get the training for Katie that she needed. I also had messages from Liam and Jacob saying they were sorry that the vampires had branded me. They didn't offer anything to help. I didn't really blame them. There was nothing they could do to help. At least they had sent condolences, unlike Ethan.

I couldn't focus on that, since I had a full day of classes to get through. I did text Caleb while I was getting dressed. -You didn't get caught, did you?-

-No. Made it home perfectly safe-

-Good-

I sent the reply and stuffed my phone in my pocket. I grabbed my bag and things for the day and went to the main building. I didn't see Professor Rhodes, which was a bit strange. She usually waited for me to leave before she went to the school to teach. I shrugged it off and went to go find breakfast. I went through the buffet and was happily surprised that today was fresh made waffle day. They made me my waffle while I waited. Once I had it, I went to the table where Shannon was waiting.

"How are _your_ hands doing?" she groaned. "I didn't think tattoos would hurt so much." Her hands were still covered in bandages. I showed her my hands and shrugged.

"Sorry, shifters heal faster than humans, and vampire students apparently," I told her. I hoped she didn't hold it against me. She glared at me, but I could tell it wasn't a serious glare.

"How many vitamins did they give you this morning?" she asked me. They always gave us one pill. I hadn't remembered her taking any more. I looked in the little pill cup they had given me.

"Four..." I replied. That was strange, they had always given one before. Shannon looked up from her own pill container, shocked.

“You're an Apprentice. You should only get one. Two today because they gave us all an extra so we would heal faster. Only the Journeymen class get four because we're about the make the transition to full vampire," she shook her head, like she had said too much. "Take your pills, don't comment about the number to anyone, especially don't ask the professors." I opened my mouth to ask her questions, but that was when Emily and Meaghan showed up with their breakfasts too. Neither of them said anything about the pills, but they did complain about their hands hurting. We ate a companionable breakfast, but Shannon pulled me aside when the other two went to class. "You most likely won't feel good today," she warned me. "Bloating, maybe abdominal pain, nausea, your blood sugar might get wonky. I just wanted to make sure you weren't surprised,"

"Thank you for the warning," I replied, while I tried to figure out what was going on.


	43. Chapter 43

I got to class and ducked into a chair at the back of the room, trying to avoid drawing attention to myself. I didn't need any more attention than I was already getting. All of the students seemed down today. No one paid me any attention when they came in and sleepily took their seats.

The next strange thing of the day came when Ms. Rice, the wizened old librarian, came in instead of Professor Rhodes. "Professor Rhodes will not be coming in today. She was going to assign you to read the next 3 chapters of _Dracula_ , you may spend class doing this, or any other assignment, quietly," she said as she took up her post behind her desk.

That was strange. Professor Rhodes hadn't seemed ill, and she was so enthusiastic all the time. She wouldn't just miss class. I also had just seen her last night. She hadn't said anything about not coming in today...

I spent the time I should have been working on my homework contemplating the mysteries of the morning. I was pulled from my thoughts with no resolution when the bell rang.

I missed seeing Professor Rhodes throughout the day. I was so used to her presence, if only in the background, and the school seemed strange and somehow less safe without her around.

Unfortunately, I couldn't spend all of my time thinking about where she could be, or what was going on with the vitamins. I had to talk to Professor Kinoshita. I waited until after Japanese class to approach her.

"Sensei, I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions," I said after I had approached her desk and given her a bow.

"What can I help you with, Lykos-san?" she asked with a smile. She was my other favorite professor.

"I know there are no official physical education or club activities today, but I was wondering if I could come by the dojo and train for a little while anyway?" She nodded, then pulled a key on a long chain out of her bag.

"I had a feeling that you would ask," she told me. "I do not give this out lightly. There is no other student on campus with a key to the dojo. I did not used to keep the dojo locked, but I want you to have a space you will feel safe, if I am not there. You may train whenever you would like, whether I am there or not." She handed me the key. I bowed to her, more deeply this time.

"Thank you for the honor," I told her and carefully put the chain over my head and tucked the key under my shirt.

"You said you had a couple of questions, is something else on your mind?" she asked me.

I nodded, and hesitated a moment before asking. "There are a couple of shifter girls I know of who would like to learn how to protect themselves. For obvious reasons, they can't train with humans. They're just too strong and it would out them. I also can't train them myself. I'm not good enough, and I can't leave campus enough to teach them effectively. I know it is unlikely, but is there any chance they might be able to train here?" I asked her. She looked thoughtful for a minute.

"I see no problem with it and I would gladly instruct any student who wants to learn. However, I will need to get permission from the Headmistress. We will also need permission from the girls' fathers. I assume they will still need permission?" I nodded. "So I will check with the Headmistress to see if this is something we can accommodate. It is one thing to allow your family to come on campus, allowing other shifters may not be as easy. You should check with your father to see if this arrangement is something the shifters will be ok with."

I bowed to her again. "I will check with my father. Thank you for your help!" I told her, hoping my sincerity and optimism showed in my voice. I turned and left the classroom and pulled out my phone so I could set a reminder to call my dad later. I headed back to my campus house and dropped my things off in my room, though I did take my phone with me when I walked to the dojo to try out my new key.


	44. Chapter 44

I worked out in the dojo for an hour or so. It was lonely practicing all alone, but I was safe in the locked dojo. I was grateful again that Professor Kinoshita had given me a key so I could practice somewhere safe. I carefully locked the dojo when I left and double checked it. I didn't want to ruin the privilege Professor Kinoshita had given me. I headed back to the house, still in my gi, I wanted to make sure it got laundered before class tomorrow.

"Apprentice, why aren't you in uniform?" a vampire I didn't recognize demanded as I was heading back to the house. I turned to face the vampire and offered him a bow.

"Apologies, sir, I was returning to my dorm after karate training," I told him. They usually didn't say anything if we were wearing workout clothes after club activities or phys ed.

"Clubs were cancelled today," he glared at me, as if he didn't buy my excuse.

"Professor Kinoshita gave me special permission to train today." He still glared at me, but finally seemed to give up on causing me trouble.

"Very well, get back to your dorm." I bowed again and rushed off more quickly. I didn't want to be out here any longer, especially when there were no other students milling about tonight. It seemed they were all staying in the dorms. Or were hanging out in the cafeteria or something. Regardless, it was better for me to get inside before I drew any more unwanted attention.

I entered the house to find that it was completely pitch black and empty. I locked the door behind me, no reason to be careless. It was still strange that Professor Rhodes wasn't here. I'd expected her to be home by now. I got a shower and changed into my pajamas and called my dad while I heated up something for dinner.

"Is there a problem?" dad asked without preamble when he answered his phone.

"No daddy, I just had a question for you," I heard his sigh of relief.

"What can I do for you, kitten?" he asked, sounding much warmer now.

"I asked one of the professors here about potentially allowing some of the shifter girls, namely Katie and Abi to come train at the dojo on campus. She and I would train them, they'd be perfectly safe surrounded by vampires, and I'm sure a male shifter escort, and they wouldn't get outed by being in a dojo with humans. She's still working out details on her end, but do you think that's something the shifters might agree to?" I asked him, babbling out my thoughts and plan. He paused and that gave me hope. He was giving my plan actual thought.

"As long as the parents of the girls in question agree, I don't see anything wrong with the girls learning to defend themselves. I endorsed your training after all. Eric can stand as escort for them while they're on campus. I'll bring up the idea with the others and let you know how it goes. You probably won't get many girls interested."

"I know, daddy, but I want them to have somewhere to train and learn if they are interested. I know Katie is terrified, and I want her to feel safe again,"

"Then I'll submit your proposal to the shifters and you work with your professor to get the buy-in from the school. It can only help them to have allies among our people,"

"Of course," My food beeped from the microwave. "My dinner's done. I should go eat it before it gets cold. Tell mom I love her?"

"Of course kitten. Goodnight,"

"Night, daddy," I hung up and went to go eat my dinner alone at the table. I had no reason to stay downstairs after I had done my dishes, so I went up to do homework.

Professor Rhodes still hadn't come home when I decided to go to bed. I went downstairs to check again before I actually went to sleep. I also double checked the locks on the door. I didn't think anyone would mess with me, just because she wasn't here, but I didn't want to take that chance either.

-How was school?- Caleb texted me while I was lying in bed.

-They cancelled clubs and phys ed because of the tattoos, so we had a short day today. I also got a key to the school dojo. I'm the only student on campus who has one- I texted him back. I was proud of that fact and wanted to share my good news.

-Congrats. Sounds better than my day. The only thing I had was a stupid spanish test. And Katie begging for more training. She said I'll do as a substitute until you can come back to train her yourself- I chuckled at that.

-I'll train her more as soon as I can-

-Oh, your other suitors went to your house and bothered your dad looking for you. They didn't seem to understand the concept that you live at school. I heard him telling my dad earlier. They were both laughing their asses off about it-

-Poor daddy. And poor dead boys- Dad wouldn't have actually killed them, but he would have lectured and scolded them for a long time for wasting his time. -Hope you have a better day tomorrow- I put my phone down, determined to get some sleep.

 


	45. Chapter 45

My alarm went off way too early in the morning. I did appreciate waking up to a good morning text from Caleb. I sent him back a selfie with the wolf he made me.

Liam and Jacob had also sent me messages, both wanted to do something this weekend. I figured I could kill two birds and invited them and Caleb to come have a movie night on Saturday. I also invited Melissa as well as Liam's and Jacob's sisters, so it wouldn't just be the four of us and my brothers watching movies in our basement. I also made sure I sent my parents a message telling them I was inviting shifters over on Saturday. They wouldn't mind, but I had to let them know.

I packed my bag for classes and headed out to breakfast, hoping we would have something good again today. My phone dinged while I was in line with acceptances from the boys and agreement from my parents. I took my oatmeal, disappointed that there were no waffles this morning and found my usual spot with Shannon. Emily and Meaghan hadn't arrived yet.

"How many pills?" Shannon demanded by way of greeting when I took my seat. I checked the little pill cup they gave us. She was urgent in her question and looked frantic. Something was wrong.

"Four," I told her, concerned why they thought we still needed extra vitamins.

"That's what I was afraid of," she looked up and saw Emily and Meaghan coming. "I'll come to your house after class," she added. Whatever she wanted to say, she wasn't willing to do so in front of the other girls. Or she wasn't willing to risk being overheard in the crowded cafeteria. Either way, it couldn't be good.

The conversation changed to classes and the tattoos. Now that they were healing more, most of the students were starting to like the tattoos. "After graduation, once we get jobs, or special skills, we'll get to stylize them more," Shannon explained. I had missed a lot of the announcements about the tattoos since I had been off campus at the time. At least some people liked them. I still felt branded and violated by what the vampire council had insisted we had to have done to us.

I would never be able to go out in public without everyone knowing what I was again. With the necklace, I could take it off or hide it. I couldn't hide giant tattoos on the backs of my hands. That was the point of them, but it was still awful. I saw Shannon's expression change for a split second and I knew that she felt the same way, but was trying to put on a good face for the others. She was a Senior, a Journeymaid, and had to set a good example for her underclassmen.

The headmistress made an appearance when the bell rang to tell us to head to class. We all had to pass her in order to get to the classrooms. "Apprentice Lykos, a word please," she said to me as I was walking past her. I waved to Shannon and the others, letting them know to head on to their classes without me. I turned to the Headmistress and gave her a small bow.

"What can I help you with, Headmistress?" I asked formally, wondering why she had pulled me aside.

"Professor Kinoshita relayed your request to have some of the shifter girls be allowed to come train on campus." I nodded as she seemed to want some kind of reply. "I will gladly allow any shifter girl who wants to learn how to defend herself to learn here. They will be safe in our care. I understand that they will, of course, come with a male escort, who will also be welcome here. It is my understanding that the shifter men usually teach the boys self defense, so they would not need instruction here, correct?" she asked me. I thought about her question for a moment.

"Most do offer such training themselves. My request was stated specifically for the girls, as most shifter families are not as encouraging to have young women learn how to protect themselves. If your generosity for a safe training space for shifters will also extend to the young men who want to learn, I know the shifter community would appreciate it."

"I will consider extending the offer to the men as well, but that would take more negotiations with your father. In the meantime, the girls are welcome to come here to train with one male escort each. The class for them will be from 7-8pm every weeknight. Your family is, of course, always welcome, as you are a student here," I nodded and bowed to her again.

"Thank you for your generosity. I will let my father know your decision." She nodded and turned to head back to her own responsibilities. I rushed to class, almost running so I wouldn't be late.

Professor Rhodes was still absent. We had two visiting professors take her place, both of whom were named Professor Cast. They were a mother and daughter and continued our class discussion of Dracula. I wondered again where Professor Rhodes was and why she hadn't told me she was going to be gone. It seemed so strange for her not to say anything.

Those thoughts flew out of my mind when Professor McCullen scolded us for being behind on the research paper he hadn't told us about for our Apprentice class and sent us all to the library to work on it. He finally handed out the assignment paper for it. I went to the library with the rest of the class, reading the assignment on the way to try to figure out what I was going to write for it. I saw a topic that looked promising on the history of relations between shifters and vampires.

Everyone else was still trying to pick their topics when we got to the library, so I made my way as fast as possible to one of the library assistants to ask for books on the subject. She directed me to a shelf in the back of the library. No one else came the entire class, so I figured I was the only one who picked that topic. I checked out a couple books that looked promising at the end of class.

At lunch I texted dad to let him know the headmistress' decision. He sent me a reply that Abi and Katie would be coming to learn and that he, Mr. Silverwolf, and Eric would escort them today. I was excited to be able to see them and was glad they were coming here to learn. I couldn't wait until training tonight.

The rest of the day crawled by with boring classes, though I did get to talk to Professor Kinoshita and warn her about the 7pm karate class if she hadn't already known. She assured me that she was prepared. I worked on homework through dinner so I wouldn't get behind with the extra hour of class tonight. I ate dinner in my house and spent a few minutes ordering Caleb's birthday present off of amazon. Proud of my productive evening, I headed over to the dojo for the first ever girls' karate class.

 


	46. Chapter 46

I crossed campus in my uniform, not wanting to get stopped by an angry professor again. My gi was in a duffel bag I carried with me.

-Sorry you couldn't escort Katie tonight- I texted Caleb. It would have been nice to see him.

-Yeah, but not surprising. I can't drive yet and only one escort per girl is allowed-

I scrolled through Facebook as I walked across campus. I was chuckling at all of the people commenting on Caleb's profile picture of us demanding it we were dating now. He hadn't answered any of them. He couldn't. Even though he'd kissed me. I couldn't claim him as a boyfriend until after I'd given the others a fair chance. Caleb knew that too, thankfully, so he wouldn't pressure me.

-Dad's having my birthday party on Friday night. Are you coming?-

-Wouldn't miss it- I replied, glad that I had ordered his present tonight. It would be waiting at my parents' in time for his party. I sent a quick message to my mom telling her what I had ordered and asking her to wrap it so I could take it to Caleb's party on Friday.

"Sammi!" I heard Katie's cry and turned to see the girl barreling towards me before we reached the dojo. I dropped my bag and swept her up into a hug. She was adorable in a brand new gi with her stiff new white belt. "Daddy's going to let me learn karate," she told me proudly.

"I heard," I smiled at her. I saw my dad, Mr. Silverwolf, Eric, and Abi coming up the path. Dad and Mr. Silverwolf were walking together behind Eric and Abi. Abi was looking shy in her new gi too, but Eric was chatting with her.

"Good evening Mr. Silverwolf," I greeted him. The rest were family, so I could greet them second.

"Good evening, Sam," he replied formally. "Thank you for setting this up. Katie is very excited." I smiled at him.

"She deserves training to protect herself," I replied. I greeted my family with hugs quickly, then turned to Katie. "Ready to learn?" I asked her. She bounced in her excitement, her wolf ears peeking out from under her hair. I chuckled and led her inside the dojo. I made the introductions to Professor Kinoshita and left them to go change into my own gi. I came back and we had a great class teaching Abi and Katie the basics while the boys sat in the waiting room right outside talking. At one point I saw dad discussing something with the Headmistress heatedly. She had apparently come by to check out the first shifter class.

Class ended with a very happy Katie who went to her dad and started babbling about all of the things she learned. I walked back with dad until the path split. "You seemed upset with the Headmistress," I commented. I wanted to know what the argument was about. He stiffened and nodded.

"I don't like those tattoos and she needed to know that." I crossed my arms, hiding my hands from him.

"I don't like them either," I told him. "But it's the vampire council's decree because of all the attacks on vampires." I tried to show him a brave face, especially since we were in public. Mr. Silverwolf was basically family, but he wasn't quite family enough to have dad confess something like this in front of him. We were walking far enough back to be out of earshot, but he still wasn't taking any chances.

He left me where the path branched off, heading to the school in one direction and to the dorms in the other. "Be safe kitten, I love you," he told me.

"Love you too, daddy,"

"We'll see you tomorrow, Sam," Abi told me. Eric and Katie would be back tomorrow too. I wasn't sure about the other escorts. They would probably switch out, but I had a feeling I'd be seeing Eric almost every day. He even insisted on walking me back to my house, even though I was perfectly safe on campus.

"See you tomorrow," he told me once we were safely at my door. He ruffled my hair and I grumped at him. He just laughed and turned to catch up with the others. I went inside to talk to my friends online while doing homework before bed.

 


	47. Chapter 47

I had forgotten Shannon was coming over until the doorbell rang a half hour after I got home. I ran downstairs to see who was there and quickly let Shannon in when I remembered that she had said she was coming over.

"Where have you been?" she demanded once she was safely inside.

"I had another class added to my schedule," I told her. She glared at me, but relented. "What did you want to talk about?" I asked her as we moved to the living room to sit down and talk more comfortably.

"The pills. Only Journeymaids are supposed to know any of this," she warned before she continued. "They aren't vitamins," she started. I nodded. I figured that if she was making such a big deal about them. "And we were all doomed the moment we took the first one. They contain vampire blood. The vampires don't tell us the full process on how we change from humans to vampires, but I found out that it has to do with the pills. They're what eventually turn us from human to vampire. Usually Apprentices get one pill, then it's upped to two for second year and so on. I don't know why they jumped you up to four pills. I do know that it's going to affect you if you haven't started feeling it already. There's a lot that we still don't know about them. We do know that if you go without them for more than a couple days before you make the change then you will die. That's what makes kids reject the change, not the absence of full vampires. Whatever you do, do not skip even a day of taking them, and do not let them drop you back down. If it had just been one day while you were healing that would be one thing, but it's been a couple of days now. Dropping you back down now could make you reject the change." She warned.

"How do you know all of this?" I asked her. It sounded like the vampires didn't want the students to know any of this.

"I found some old texts in the basement during a 'research project'," she made the finger quotes. "I've been researching this for awhile. I didn't trust the pills and didn't believe that they were vitamins. I don't think they realize how much I know. They definitely don't want you or the rest of the kids to know either,"

"You said the jump up would affect me?" I asked, scared of that particular point.

"You're probably still healing so it's not surprising you haven't noticed yet. It can be a lot of things, but common things that were noted before they found the proper dosages were chills, fever, weakness, fatigue, dizziness, etc. I don't know how long it will last, but be prepared," she warned. The clock chimed from the mantle. "I should go. They're getting antsy about kids being out late, even if curfew hasn't hit yet. Don't tell anyone what we were talking about tonight," she ordered before she swept from the room and my house. I locked the door behind her, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble.

I was feeling tired, so I made sure to finish the rest of my homework as fast as I could so I could get to bed.

The rest of the week flew by. My extra classes were giving me less time in the evenings, though I wouldn't give up the time I was getting to spend with Katie and Abi. Shannon was right and I was feeling like I had the flu by the next morning. I tried to hide it as best I could, especially around the shifters, but I knew my dad and brother were worried when they saw me. I stumbled through my classes, but none of my teachers seemed concerned. They gave me extra credit on my assignments and told me to make sure I got enough sleep. The pills stayed at four every morning.

Finally classes ended on Friday and I was grateful when Eric came to pick me up so I could go home for the weekend. He forcibly took my bag from me and wrapped an arm around me as he walked me to his car. I let him, leaning against him, so exhausted that even walking was difficult. I knew I was running a fever, but I couldn't get warm. He opened the car door for me and settled me inside. He got in the driver's side before he turned to me, glaring. "What's wrong? You've been sick all week. We _never_ get sick," he growled.

"Don't tell dad?" I asked him softly. He thought about it, still growling.

"You're going to tell me regardless," he snarled at me. "But I won't tell him unless it's necessary, so spill,"

"I don't want him to worry. He can't fix it anyway," I started, but I explained the pills to him, telling him everything I knew. I could trust him. He had protected me my entire life, even lying to dad to keep me out of trouble.

"What are you going to tell dad?" he asked. I looked over at him and smiled, grateful he was going to help me.

"That the classes are very challenging and I'm tired from all of the studying I'm doing," I told him. "I can fake being ok for a couple of days," I promised him. He sighed.

"Fine, but I'll be keeping an eye on you,"

"I wouldn't expect anything less,"

"Close your eyes until we get home, you look like shit." He said the words trying to sound harsh, but I heard the love behind the words. I closed my eyes anyway and leaned back in the seat, getting comfortable. I felt as awful as he was saying I looked. He drove us home slowly, buying me time to rest for a little while before I had to pretend again.

 


	48. Chapter 48

Eric woke me when we got to the house. "C'mon, time to pretend you're ok," he told me, shaking me awake. I groaned at him, but took a second to force myself to pretend to look awake and feeling normal. I grabbed my bag and headed inside, trying to be cheerful. It was exhausting and I didn't think my parents bought my act. Mom suggested that I go upstairs and relax for a little bit until we had to head over to Caleb's birthday party. I took her up on it and crashed on my bed after I had changed into normal clothes, plus Caleb's hoodie.

"Did she say what's wrong?" I heard mom's voice from downstairs.

"She said the classes are hard and she's had to stay up late studying to keep her grades up," Eric told her. I silently thanked him for having my back. I appreciated the hour or so that I got to lie in my own bed, bundled in my own blankets.

"We're heading out soon," Eric said from my doorway once my naptime was over. I groaned, but sat up, excited to go see Caleb. I grabbed his present from my desk where mom had left it wrapped for me and headed downstairs. I glanced in the mirror and saw that my cheeks were flushed while the rest of me was deathly pale. There was no hiding that I wasn't feeling well.

"We don't have to stay long if you're not feeling well," mom told me when she saw me. I gave her a smile.

"I'm fine, mom, just tired from classes this week. I wasn't expecting vampire school to be harder than Catholic school," I joked. I avoided hugging her, though, as she'd definitely feel my fever if she touched me. My lie wouldn't survive that.

"I'll drive us separate," Eric told her. "We can always come home early." Mom relaxed at that.

'Thank you,' I mouthed at Eric. I'd owe him for how much he was helping me tonight. I really didn't want to miss Caleb's birthday, though. I also knew he wouldn't let me stay a moment longer than he thought I could handle.

Caleb's party was at his house. It wasn't nearly as big of an event as mine was, just family and a few of his friends. His friends would come later. Right now, it was just dinner with his family. My family had been adopted into his, so we had been invited too. Caleb greeted me at the door and I saw his grin get even bigger when he saw that I was wearing his hoodie. He gave me a hug, but quickly stepped back and looked at me concerned.

"Are you ok?" he asked. I nodded.

"Of course." I didn't want to worry him on his birthday. He didn't look convinced, but stepped aside to let us inside. His hoodie sleeves were long enough that they went to halfway down my fingers, so my hand tattoos were covered. I also had my necklace hidden under it, so I could be incognito for once. We followed Caleb to the dining room where dinner was already set up. I set my present for him on the side table with the other presents.

"Sammi!" Katie exclaimed and ran over to me. She was wearing an adorable dress for Caleb's birthday. I gave her a hug. She wouldn't tell on me for being too warm.

"I feel underdressed," I laughed at her. She grinned at me in reply.

"Caleb still loves you even in jeans," she told me and bounced off to go bother mom. I felt myself blush and Caleb looked away.

"Out of the mouths of babes," I heard Eric mumble. Caleb and I both pretended we hadn't been able to hear him. A minute later, dinner was served and we all sat down around the table. Caleb picked the spot next to me. Eric didn't even growl at him this time, though I think that was entirely because it was Caleb's birthday.

I spent dinner trying not to shake with cold and stay awake. I also knew that I was radiating heat from the fever, but Caleb and Katie were next to me, and neither would give me away. Caleb kept glancing over at me, checking to see if I was really ok, but that wasn't too obvious.

"Caleb, open your presents!" Katie exclaimed the second everyone had eaten. She jumped up to grab her present for him from the table and bring it over to him. She had handmade him a card. His gift from her contained a couple comic books and one of those pop culture figurines. I had a feeling she had used her allowance money. "I picked them out myself!" she told him proudly.

"I love them, munchkin, thank you," he told her. His brothers got him a new knife and some weird piece of workout equipment I didn't understand the purpose of. His father got him a fancy nice watch, as since he was old enough to date, he was becoming a man and would take a man's responsibilities. It was a traditional gift for a fifteen year old's birthday. My dad gave him a book on leadership. My brothers had chipped in to get him a video game he wanted. Mom gave him a hand knitted scarf, which he promptly put on and thanked her for.

Last was my gift. I went to get it from the table, trying not to wobble as the room spun around me. I managed without anyone saying anything. I handed Caleb the wrapped box with a smile and returned to my seat beside him. He opened the box and I watched in anticipation as he pulled the stuffed wolf out from inside. It had red fur, just like I did in wolf form and bore an uncanny resemblance to my wolf form. He grinned when he saw it and recognized why I had picked it out. "I love it," he told me. He leaned over and kissed me quickly. I blushed and looked down at my lap. He had kissed me in front of all of his family and mine. It was just a light, chaste kiss, so they couldn't _really_ complain, but I hadn't realized he was ready to announce his interest in me in front of our families.

"We'll clean up. You kids go downstairs. We'll send the rest of your friends down when they get here," mom announced, breaking the tension. She stopped Katie from joining us, though, as she wasn't big enough to hang out with the big kids tonight. We went down to the other half of Caleb's basement from the training room, which was a huge tv room.

"Sit down before you fall down," Eric grumped at me, pushing me towards one of the couches. I did as he bid, curling my legs up under me. Caleb sat down next to me and pulled the blanket from the back of the couch to wrap around me, since I was shivering so badly, now that we were out of sight of the adults. I let him pull me into his arms and I laid my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes so the world would stop spinning.

"You're burning up. Sam, what's wrong?" Caleb asked. I didn't move from where I was comfortably curled against him, but I did explain about the pills and the side effects and how I was trying not to worry dad, who would just cause trouble at the school for things that couldn't be helped.

"I can handle a few days of a fever and feeling sleepy," I promised him. He kissed the top of my head.

"I know, but I still worry," he told me softly.

"Stop that," Eric growled softly at Caleb. Caleb chuckled. I was still dizzy, so I let them talk while I curled myself in a shivering ball of misery in Caleb's arms. I knew he was more worried than he was letting on.

"Are you still having people over tomorrow?" Caleb asked me. I nodded, which was more rubbing my head against him than a real nod, so I had to actually answer.

"I have to. I have to be seen as giving the others a fair chance," I reminded him. I didn't want to give them a fair chance. I wanted to just make my choice, but that wasn't how our society worked.

Caleb's friends came shortly after and I had to sit up and pretend to be ok. Eric became more and more uncomfortable when all of the people who came were boys. When the room was crowded with boys and I was the only girl there, Eric came over to me. "C'mon, it's time for us to head home," he told me. I stood and he wrapped a protective arm around me. He trusted most of these boys most of the time, but this wasn't a good situation for any of us. I said goodbye to Caleb before Eric escorted me from the room. Eric told our parents that we were heading home and practically dragged me to the car, not trusting me to be safe from all of that testosterone until I was safely in his car.  Usually, he would have trusted them.  But I had been the only female in the room and was of dating age now.  Also I was  _really_ sick.

When we got home, he was at my side of the car before I could even open the door. He grabbed me and threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Hey!" I protested, hitting his back as he carried me unceremoniously into the house. He didn't care and carried me all the way to my room.

"You're sick. Go to bed," he grumped at me as he set me on my feet in my room. I cursed at him for his behavior, but he was right. I slammed my door in his face, changed into my pajamas, and passed out in my bed.

 


	49. Chapter 49

I had to wake too early the next morning for my mandatory meeting with one of the vampires from school. As dad had requested, they came to the house to meet me. Today, it was one of the guards, not even a teacher. He handed me my pills and sat in silence for an hour. I worked on my homework while he sat there awkwardly.

Afterwards, mom wanted to drag me shopping for clothes. I let her, since it would make her happy. Eric drew the short straw and had to come with us. Dad was still shaken up by recent events and didn't want us going alone. I thought he was being a bit overprotective for the middle of a Saturday morning, but I didn't argue either. I did argue when mom wanted me to cover my tattoos when we went out. I had to remind her that it was against the rules of the vampire council before she would finally relent. It was a warm day, so I wore a T-shirt. There was no hiding my tattoos. We got stares wherever we went in the mall and people actively avoided me, like they would catch vampirism from me. I did my best to ignore them so mom wouldn't worry. I even let her buy me a dress, and promised to wear it when my friends came over.

I spent the afternoon doing homework, holed up in my room, feeling miserable, like I had the flu. At least that's what WebMD said when I typed in my symptoms. Getting the flu wasn't really a concern for shifters, so I'd never had to worry before.

Finally evening came and my friends arrived. My parents ordered pizza and the teens all piled into our basement to watch movies. We had a huge couch down there, a couple comfy chairs, and plenty of pillows and blankets on the floor of the huge room. I had to socialize with all of them, especially Liam and Jacob, since I was supposed to be giving them a fair chance at wooing me. They were nice enough, I just wasn't really sure I was actually interested in them. Lily and Abi had come too as well as Lily's two suitors. Abi was turning 14 next month, so she was old enough to hang out with us, even though none of the boys would dare flirt with her. My brothers were hanging out with us too, and Eric was keeping an extra close eye on Abi. Not that she was in any danger, but she was in our care, so he'd make extra sure she was safe. This wasn't as big of a gathering as most of the others we had, but wasn't bad for such short notice.

"What movie are we watching tonight?" Abi asked, looking over the movie collection on one of the walls. Lily and I joined her. The boys wouldn't care what we picked. They were glad to spend time with other teens and without parents around.

"We haven't watched this one recently," I pulled one out that was a horrible representation of both vampires and werewolves. Lily and Abi agreed and we popped the movie in. While the previews were showing, we jostled for seats. Lily sat on the couch between her suitors. Abi curled up on the floor cushions with my brothers, except Eric who sat alone in one of the comfy chairs. I picked a different pile of floor pillows to sit on. Caleb, Jacob, and Liam sat by me.

"You didn't pick one of the new movies?" Jacob asked, sounding hurt. I didn't want to deal with male egos. That was another downside to having multiple suitor, too many egos to deal with. I was also still feeling like death. I was pretty sure my fever was worse and I was looking forward to the movie starting so I could lean against the couch behind me and nap through the movie. I was dizzy and exhausted. At least only Caleb and my brothers seemed to notice.

"Sorry, Jacob. I couldn't take them to school with me and I haven't really been home to unbox them and get them down here yet. Hopefully by next movie day," I told him, trying to smile. He pouted, but didn't argue anymore.

"I heard that you set up karate classes for some of the shifter girls," Liam said. I nodded.

"Katie Silverwolf had gotten scared of strangers, so we thought the lessons might help her feel safer. I also think that anyone who wants to learn should have the opportunity," I replied. I wasn't sure how many people knew what happened with the intruders, so I didn't want to spill the beans on a story that wasn't already known. Katie was also extremely popular. She was adorable and a sweetheart, so no one would question that I was doing something to help her. The community also knew that we had basically adopted her since her mom died.

I then realized that I was talking with my hands. I was enthusiastic about the girls learning. I hadn't realized why I was talking that I was drawing attention to my hands and the tattoos that were there. My family had accepted them. They knew it was something I'd had to do. Caleb had accepted them and had been willing to risk himself to come see me when they had been done to make sure I was ok. Liam and Jacob hadn't replied to the messages I had sent after they were done. They were now looking squeamish about them, even horrified and disgusted. A lot of the shifter families were very religious. I didn't understand it myself, but they tended to be the kinds of Christians who thought tattoos and body piercings were evil. It also seemed like Liam and Jacob couldn't quite accept that I was going to be a vampire someday.

I shut my mouth quickly and put my hands in my lap, hiding them under one of the blankets. I felt my cheeks turn even more red in embarrassment and shame. My brothers all growled at Liam and Jacob. Loudly. I turned back to watching the previews, fighting back tears at the rejection.

Finally the pizzas arrived and the boys were quiet while they shoved food in their faces. I managed to nibble on a piece, but I was too nauseous to do more than that. Caleb watched me, concerned, but didn't fuss in front of all of these people.

Once everyone had eaten their pizza and the movie was starting, Eric got up to turn the lights off. We could still see plenty well enough. There was light coming in from the door and the TV screen was bright enough. Next to me, Caleb laid his arm behind me on the couch we were leaning against. He was opening up his side for me, inviting me to cuddle up against him, without words. Jacob and Liam hadn't made any similar offers. Since they hadn't, I was free to accept Caleb's offer without upsetting them. Not that I really cared since they were rejecting me. I scooted over and leaned against Caleb, laying my head on his shoulder.

"You still aren't feeling well," he whispered. I shook my head. He had to be able to feel how bad my fever was and he held me while I shivered from the chills. "You fulfilled your duty to the pack. Rest now," his words were soft enough none of the others would be able to hear what he said. My duty tonight had been to give Liam and Jacob a fair shot at wooing me. Caleb was right. I closed my eyes, listening to the movie instead of watching.

Liam and Jacob left after the first movie. Eric escorted them out, growling at them the entire time. Abi was safely cuddled in a pile with the rest of my brothers, so she was perfectly safe and he could leave her alone with us. Shifters liked physical contact and this kind of cuddling was perfectly innocent. Eric didn't come back for a long time. I had a feeling he was telling our parents what happened with Liam and Jacob.

Lily and her suitors left after the second movie. It was getting late by that time. Abi was going to spend the night with us and Caleb would stay as long as my dad let him.

It was almost midnight when I was attacked by hideous wet coughs. Caleb held me while I hacked and couldn't stop. My fever spiked even worse. Eric ran upstairs to get our parents while my brothers rushed over to try to help. There was nothing they could do as I was coughing, retching up blood. Dan and Dave grabbed Abi and dragged her upstairs, away from the bloody scene before she had to see any more of it. Seth stayed with me. My twin wouldn't leave me alone. There was blood running from my nose, eyes, and ears too.

Dad rushed to my side. "Sam, what's wrong?" he asked. I could barely breathe through the coughs. "We've got to get you to the hospital," he said when he saw me. He had hesitated on the decision. I wasn't surprised. The hospital was absolutely a last resort. Our blood was different than humans and people didn't know about shapeshifters. Normally, everything we needed could be performed by the shifters who had become doctors. This wasn't one of those cases. Dad had to be cognizant of the choice of taking me to the hospital would reveal what we were and he would have to go public with the information that shifters are real.

"Call. School. Tell Them. You know. About pills." I managed to get the words out between coughs. "Ask Eric." The coughing spell eased momentarily and I collapsed against Caleb in utter exhaustion, close to blacking out. Dad howled for Eric and demanded to know what was going on with the pills. Eric looked to me for approval before he answered. Dad glared at his loyalty to my secret before obeying our father. I nodded to him and he told Dad the entire story. The second he was done, Dad pulled out his cell and dialed the school. By then my break from coughing was over and more blood was pouring from my nose, even as I was throwing up blood. I was trying so hard to breathe that I was panicking even more.

"Breathe Sam," Caleb told me, sounding calm. He started counting breathing for me, rubbing my back to try to calm me. I followed his instruction and slowly the coughs and retching stopped, though the bleeding did not.

"Sam, you have to try to shift," my Alpha ordered, still on the phone with the school. "If that doesn't help, we'll have to get you to the hospital. The vampires will meet us there. Your wolf is stronger than your human form. Take her strength," he ordered firmly. He was projecting an air of calm I knew he didn't feel. He thought I was dying. I had lost enough blood that I didn't blame him.

I managed to sit up and tried to focus on my wolf. She was there, deep inside where she usually stayed, but she was weak and fading. I reached for her, begging for her to help me. We had to work together to survive this. I felt the shift started when she finally agreed to help me. She was too weak too, though and I couldn't complete the shift. I had managed to shift my eyes, claws, and teeth before I collapsed again.

"I'm taking her to the hospital," I heard Dad's voice as Caleb caught me before I could completely fall. The world had turned black and my ears were ringing.

"Dad, she doesn't look human, or vampire. Her wolf ears are out and she's in no shape to shift them back." Eric protested.

"We're coming out regardless. I'm not letting my only daughter die to protect a secret that's isn't going to last."

Time flowed around me. The next thing I knew, I was in Caleb's arms and he was carrying me up the basement stairs as if I weighed nothing. I made a soft noise as I came to, blinking quickly to clear my eyes. "Shh, it's ok. We're getting you help," he promised softly. "Just relax, you'll be ok." I had just enough time to wonder if this is what it felt like to reject the change before I passed out again.

 


	50. Chapter 50

"Sam! Stay with us Sam!"

"Sam!"

Voices kept calling me but I was trapped in the darkness and couldn't seem to find my way out. I wandered around the darkness for what seemed like ages. I finally found a path that looked brighter than the one I was on. I followed it, continuing to walk even though I was exhausted. I just wanted to lay down and sleep, but part of me knew that if I did that, then I'd never wake again. So I trudged on.

Finally, I made it to a brightly lit room. There were two people waiting for me there, which made me wary the instant I stepped into the room. Unfortunately, a barrier popped up behind me the second I walked in, so I couldn't run from them.

"Don't be afraid, dear, we just wanted to talk to you before you head back to the real world." One of them said gently. The two looked to be in their early 20s. One of them, the female, was obviously a shifter. The male was a vampire.

"Who are you?" I asked them, still wary. The shifter grinned at me. She had long red hair and her grin looked oddly familiar.

"We're your ancestors," she told me. "Technically, we're not supposed to visit, but you have a long, hard path in front of you, and you need to know where you came from, before you can know your path. Tell me, child, what do the shifter histories tell you about the bond between the shifters and the vampires?" I paused for a moment at the absurdity of her question, of this whole situation. "Report!" She said sternly. Training to obey my Alpha kicked in and my mouth opened and started speaking before I could even consciously choose to do so.

"Many years ago, before my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather was born the Alpha of the time ran in to a group of vampires who were being killed off by the humans. Vampires at the time were more fragile than they are now. They were easily defeated physically, but had strong magic. The shifters wanted to have access to this magic as well and use the combined strength of themselves and the vampires to protect against the humans and be able to hide both groups' secrets. The shifters agreed to protect the vampires physically if the vampires would teach them magic, promise not to feed on shifters without permission, and use their magic to make the humans forget about both groups."

"And what do the vampires say happened?"

I only knew the answer to this question, since I had been researching it for the last week. "According to the memories of the oldest vampires, many moons ago, they came across a group of barbarian beasts. They appeared as wolves most of the time, and the vampires were surprised to find that these wolves had human forms as well. They say that they took these savages in and civilized them. In exchange, the shifters protected the vampires from physical harm,"

"The shifters had it more correct," the shifter told me.

"Sure they did..." the vampire grumped.

"Anyway, both groups came together. They needed to work together to stay safe from the humans. That's the path we see for you. You will need to bridge the two worlds and get the two groups to work together. The humans are finding out about both of your kinds, and we doubt they will take it well."

"Why me? I'm just a 15 year old girl," I protested. I couldn't have that much responsibility.

"Because you are both shifter and vampire. The first in a very, very long time," the vampire said.

The two were fading. "We have to leave. We've already been here way longer than we're allowed, and you need to get back to your body," the shifter kissed me on the cheek. "Stay strong daughter. We're always with you, even though you can't see us,"

With that, they vanished and a door appeared in the opposite wall. I rushed over to it, beyond ready to get out of this place.

 


	51. Chapter 51

It took a huge amount of effort, but I finally got my eyes to open. I found myself in a strange room that smelled of cleaning chemicals. There was a giant window letting the sun in. I struggled to sit up, trying to focus on where I was and what was going on.

The second I moved, a shape got up from the couch next to my bed and rushed over to me. "Sam! You're awake!" I turned my head and saw Caleb.

"Caleb?" I asked, my voice a hoarse rasp.

"I'm here. Your mom is just down the hall. She'll be back in a minute," he told me. I tried to sit up again and he helped me, letting me lean against the pillows.

"What happened?" I coughed and he handed me a glass of water from the table.

"Easy," he soothed. "You've been unconscious for almost two weeks-"

"TWO WEEKS?" I demanded, nearly dropping my glass of water. Caleb nodded.

"We've been terrified you wouldn't wake up," he hugged me then, as if he couldn't hold himself back anymore. "We've been so worried. We thought you were rejecting the change. You _were_ rejecting the change. The vampires and shifters have been in here every moment to try to save you. The headmistress had to give you a _ton_ of vampire blood. I thought we were going to lose you,"

"I'm ok," I told him softly. "Last thing I remember was you carrying me up the stairs." I hoped he would tell me the rest of what happened. I couldn't believe I had been unconscious for a week.

"You passed out after losing all of that blood. Your dad let me carry you so he could drive us to the hospital and have Eric stand guard. I think that's the only reason he let me come. Anyway, we brought you here. They didn't want to help you, since your wolf ears were out and you were obviously a vampire," he glanced at the tattoos on my hands. "But your dad being a lawyer came in handy and he convinced them to help you. He's been working with the other shifter leaders and has made a ton of official statements and press conferences. Not all of the shifters are out, per se, your dad decided that the most respectable members should announce themselves. Sergeant Major Corvin, Sheriff Briggs, Doctor Osborne, etc. have announced themselves at your father's orders. You missed a lot of the backlash, but they weren't going to malign a little girl in the hospital,"

"I'm not a little girl," I grumped at him. He chuckled.

"You're tiny and don't look your age," he reminded me. I grumbled, but he was right. "They also don't want to upset the vampires, so they have been keeping you out of it besides saying that they hope you get better. We've had a nightmare keeping them from taking pictures of you though." I must've looked confused, because he reached up and touched one of the wolf ears on top of my head. I blushed. Being in an inbetween form was rather taboo except for self-defense. I concentrated and slowly shifted all the way back human. "The reporters haven't been able to malign any of the shifters who have come out, since they're all well respected members of the community, so they're trying to push that shifters are awesome. I don't know how that's going. I've been here pretty much every second that I'm not in school, so the only news I've gotten is what's on the TV,"

"Sam?" mom asked from the doorway. She ran over to us. "Sam! You're awake!" She would have thrown me to the ground if I wasn't in a bed already, her hug was so hard and crushing.

"I'm fine, mom," I insisted. She hugged me even tighter.

"We thought you were going to lose you," she whispered. I nodded and let her hug me. Caleb stepped back to make some phone calls, letting the shifters know that I was awake and ok.

Mom eventually had to leave to deal with nurses and logistics for getting me out of here, especially with the press. I turned to Caleb when she was gone. "Did anyone else come visit?" I asked him.

"Every alpha has been here at least once in respect for your dad. A lot of them didn't come in so they didn't out their entire family, but they met up with someone in your family to wish you well. Katie, Abi, and Lily came to see you. So did your friend Melissa and some girl named Shannon from the vampire school. Liam and Jacob were very much absent, if that's what you're asking about." I wasn't surprised that they hadn't come. At least I didn't have to consider them for mates anymore. I wasn't going to before, but then they rejected the vampire half of me, so it wasn't going to work regardless.

It took two more days of observation and negotiating with the hospital staff before I was finally allowed to leave. Thankfully, it was a Saturday when I was released, and I was allowed to go to my own home and didn't have to go back to school yet. Caleb's dad made him come home once Caleb confirmed that I was safely home. He had postponed his studies enough while I was sick. He did kiss me goodbye when his dad came to pick him up. I waved to Mr. Silverwolf and headed inside to get a much needed shower and tuck myself into my own bed.

 


	52. Chapter 52

After my way too long shower, I curled into my bed to take a nap. Almost every five minutes one of my brothers or parents would stop by to make sure I was ok. It wasn't helping me take my nap. I finally got up and went downstairs to the livingroom. Mom gave me way too much food to eat and I curled myself on the giant livingroom couch with a movie. My brothers made excuses on coming in to spend the day with me and we ended up in a cuddle pile watching old movies. It was safe and warm and I could heal with all of them around.

"Sammi!" I heard Katie's cry from the door of the house. I wasn't surprised that she had come, but I still hadn't known that she was coming and that we should expect her. Dad looked up. He was sitting in his recliner watching the movie with us while he did work. He looked just as surprised as I felt.

I struggled to my feet. It was hard extricating myself from the pile of wolves around me. I was also still weaker than I'd like to admit from my two weeks in the hospital. Seth rushed over to me and wrapped an arm around me. "Sit down," he grumped at me. "We can let the puppy in. You don't have to take care of everyone and everything. Let us take care of you for once." He pushed me gently into Dan and Dave's waiting arms and they pulled me back down onto the couch. I grumbled, but didn't struggle against them. I wouldn't win, so there was no need to show them how weak I really was right then. Dad went to the front door with Seth to see what was going on.

A blur of girl came running into the room with two grown men giving chase. Katie saw me and jumped into my lap. "Sammi!" she whined, sounding like a distressed puppy.

"I'm fine, Katie," I told her, letting her cuddle herself into my arms. She was sobbing into my shirt. "What's wrong, honey?" I asked her gently, rubbing her back to try to calm her. It took awhile, but she did eventually calm.

"You were sick and no one would let me see you. I was scared you were going to die like mommy. I had to make sure you were really better," she whimpered.

"I'm better now. The nice people at the hospital fixed me right up," I told her. "I'm sorry you were scared, though,"

"Katie, where is your father, or your brothers?" my father demanded now that she was calm. She shifted guiltily and wouldn't look him in the eye. "Kathryn Silverwolf, answer the question," he growled, fully in alpha mode now.

"At home," she murmured, looking at her shoes and not at my dad.

"And where do they think you are?" he asked.

"At home," she repeated timidly, knowing that she was in trouble now.

"I highly doubt that. You and Sam are to stay here while I call your father," dad ordered.

"Yes, sir," she said softly, meekly. Dad and the boys left so they could call the Silverwolf boys and let them know where their wayward daughter had gone.

It wasn't long before Mr. Silverwolf showed up roaring with anger. Had his daughter not been involved, dad wouldn't have let him in in that mood. He relented, though, because of Katie.

"He's going to be so mad," Katie whimpered. I nodded.

"He is going to be mad. You scared him, sweetie. You know how alphas are about the girls in their care. You shouldn't have come here without asking him," I told her.

"I know... but I had to see you," she whined.

"That may be, but you also have to live with your consequences," I told her. I wouldn't hide the truth from her, even though it was unpleasant.

Mr. Silverwolf ran into the room and practically ripped Katie from my arms. He held her tightly, squeezing her so tightly that she started to complain that she couldn't breathe. Caleb followed him much more calmly. I stood, shakily, and went to greet him while Mr. Silverwolf was reading Katie the riot act for the stunt she pulled. Caleb rushed over when he saw me struggling and wrapped his arms around me. I smiled up at him. "Still haven't fully recovered," I told him sheepishly. He steered me back to the couch.

"You should be resting," he told me. I rolled my eyes.

"I was watching movies on the couch until all the excitement," I reminded him grumpily. I was choosing to rest. Rest wasn't choosing to cooperate.

"Are you really ok?" he asked, sitting next to me on the couch. I sighed.

"I'll be fine. I'm not looking forward to going back to school tomorrow, though. People already don't like me and I hate that I'm going to look weak in front of them," I didn't normally share how I was feeling with people. I liked looking strong and like I was capable of keeping up with the male shifters. I had to be even more manly just to prove I was equal.

"Do you need me to go with you?" he asked. I giggled at his bravado.

"Much as I'd love to see you every day and have a normal high school experience, you have your own school to go to," I reminded him. "You can't just skip class to keep me company. Your dad already has one kid in trouble," I teased. Caleb sighed and looked down, dejected.

"I just wish I could protect you. I hate that we have to leave you alone without any shifters," he told me.

"I hate it too. It's so lonely there. Shifters aren't meant to be solitary," I sighed and laid my hand on his. I needed the physical comfort, but I wasn't going to demand a hug. Instead of a hug, he leaned over and kissed the top of my head.

"Come on, Caleb. We need to get Katie home." Caleb gave me a proper kiss, then jumped to his feet.

"Yes, sir," he replied. "Get some rest, Sam," he bid me. I nodded and let them leave. They would have just fretted if I had gotten back up.

-I'm here if you need me- Caleb texted me thirty seconds later. I smiled at that.

-How much trouble is Katie in?- I texted him back while my brothers filed back in to curl around me and continue our movies.

-She's grounded for forever. He's also not letting her come train in karate with you for two weeks, and isn't allowed out of the sight of one of us unless she is in her room sleeping or using the bathroom until he can trust her again. He's sooo pissed-

-I can imagine- I set my phone aside and curled back up in the wolf pile, cuddling among my brothers to take a much needed nap. I would let them protect me today.

Tomorrow I could be strong again.

Tomorrow.

 


	53. Chapter 53

I had another day of rest before I had to go back to school. I didn't know what I would be facing when I got there and I avoided thinking about it as long as possible. Unfortunately, that ended when I had to go back. Dad drove me this time. He wasn't taking any chances with my safety. I was still weak from my two weeks in the hospital, though none of us were talking about that.

"Are you going to be ok at school? We can keep you home with us until you're feeling stronger," he suggested as we were driving.

"I'll be fine, dad. I'll be home for the weekend," I reminded him. "It's just a few days,"

"I just hate that you're all alone there, kitten," he told me. I nodded.

"I know, daddy, but I'll be fine," I promised him. I was tired of being strong all the time. I had to be strong and had to deal with being alone in a school full of vampires.

Dad drove us to the school and we signed in at the reception and he walked me all the way back to my house on campus. He kissed my forehead. "Call me if you need anything,"

"I will," I told him. I hugged him one last time before I turned to go in the house and he headed home. I trudged up to my room, noting again that Professor Rhodes wasn't here. It was nice to be grown up enough to have my own house, but at the same time, it was really lonely when I was used to being surrounded by wolves. I raised my head and howled the song of lonely. It didn't have the right cadence in human form, but it was still recognizable. I heard howls answer mine. The replies made me smile, feeling the love of my people, even if I was alone physically.

When I checked messages, I saw that there was one from the headmistress demanding that I come see her as soon as I was back on campus. My heart raced, as I scrambled to try to figure out what I did to upset her. I realized it was probably my nearly dying that had her upset. I quickly dressed in one of my uniforms and ran a brush through my hair. I noticed my uniform was a little baggy, I had obviously lost weight with my two weeks in the hospital, but it would come back, as would my strength. I threw my phone and keys in my pocket and rushed up to the headmistress' office. I knocked on her door when I got there. "Enter," I heard her reply. I eased the door open and slipped inside.

"You wanted to see me, headmisress?" I asked as I took a step into the room. She indicated a chair on the other side of her desk.

"Have a seat, Apprentice Lykos," she told me. I did as I was bid, though nervously. I didn't know why she wanted to see me. "I'm glad you're feeling better,"

"Thank you,"

"I called you here to tell you something important. You wouldn't have gotten to the topic of rejecting the change in your studies. It is a topic usually avoided in the first year of study. In your case, there are some things you need to know." I nodded. There were things I definitely needed to know. I nearly died and I had a feeling it was because of those pills. "You nearly rejected the change. You would have if it hadn't been for your shifter blood and that you were half shifted at the time. We lose students every year to rejection. None who were as far gone as you were that night have ever survived." I took those words in, feeling extremely lucky. "Now that you have survived, you will never reject the change again."

"I've completed the transformation?" I asked. She shook her head.

"I'm afraid not. You'll learn more about how that happens later. Just know that you are safe from the rejection happening again." I nodded.

"Thank you for the reassurance," I told her stiffly. She still hadn't answered the question I really wanted answers to.

"If you feel the need for extra strength, don't be scared to pull that strength from your shifter half. No one here will judge you for using that strength, even if they have to see something strange, like wolf ears," she told me. I nodded, confused by her words and why she was telling me this. "You are dismissed." I nodded again and left her office, feeling more confused than when I had entered.

However, I was feeling weak and tired, so I focused on a partial shift. I meant to only shift my eyes, but my wolf ears and tail popped out too. I didn't feel like fighting with it. Partial shifts weren't something we practiced often, as between forms were usually frowned upon. I needed my wolf's strength, though, and this was how she chose to give it to me. I'd have to take what I could get. With her help, I did feel stronger, almost back to normal.

I walked more slowly back to my house. I didn't have to run back, like I had to go see the headmistress. I checked my phone and realized that dinner was still going on. I decided to be brave and go eat dinner with the rest of the school. Mostly, I didn't want to cook. Whispers followed me as I went through the line and got food. I didn't see my friends, so I sat at a table by myself. I just wanted to eat dinner. I looked up, bristling, when someone approached my table. It was one of the students, a boy a grade above me. I could tell by a quick glance at his pendant.

"May I join you?" he asked. I was wary, but nodded. He smiled and sat down with his own dinner. He even chuckled. "Your ears fluff up when you're upset," he told me. I tried not to growl at him. It was hard. "Look, I know how those assholes in your grade have treated you. It's their loss. I just wanted to come over and introduce myself. You seem like an interesting person and I thought we might be friends. I'm Vladimir Sanguis." He laughed again "I know it's a strange name, but my dad named me after himself, and it's apparently a family traditional. I come from a long line of vampires. I go by Mir,"

"I'm Samantha Lykos. I go by Sam," I told him simply.

"So what club are you in?" he asked.

"I switch between Japanese and karate," I replied. He was trying hard. I knew I shouldn't be so wary of him, but the other kids here had been so rude to me so far it was hard to trust his intentions.

"You didn't take gymnastics? That's what most girls go for for the mandatory gym class," he laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"Not my thing. Karate is way more useful,"

He shrugged. "Just surprised you didn't want to appear less vicious. Shifters have a rep, you know." I fought back another growl.

"Vampires don't have the greatest rep either," I reminded him, stiffly. He nodded.

"That's true," he was hedging some. I could tell he wanted to get back to friendly terms. "I'm on the football team," I nodded, not really having any comment to that. "You've become a legend, you know," that got my attention and I saw his gaze move to my ears as they literally perked up with interest.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, most kids who reject the change actually die. You rejected it and came back to school, but you're not a full vampire. Plus you've been all over the news with the shifters coming out of the closet, so to speak. The news got a picture of you in the hospital that they've been showing everywhere,"

"Just what I needed," I grumbled. I didn't need to be more famous. Everyone at this school already knew who I was because I was the only shifter in a school of vampires. "Thanks for the head's up, though."

"I should get going. I have a ton of homework still. See you around, Sam," Mir bid me. He stood and left, leaving me even more confused on why he was interested in me in the first place.


	54. Chapter 54

I headed back to my house after dinner, drained from being social, even if most of it was me being ignored by the rest of the school, or whispered about. It was getting old, and an unfortunate side effect of the wolf ears was that I could hear the whispers a lot better with them. I focused on shifting back to human. I would deal with feeling weak and sick to not have to listen to the whispers of my classmates.

"They're just impressed that you survived rejecting the change," Mir told me from the doorway to the cafeteria as I walked over.

"Uh-huh, sure, that's the reason. It can't be because I'm the only shifter in the school and they all seem to hate me because of it," I grumbled at him. I knew I was being illogically pissy towards someone who was just being friendly. "Sorry, I've been sick for two weeks and it's making me grumpy." I tried to give him a smile, but it was hard.

"What happened to your ears?" he asked. I blushed.

"I got tired of listening to them whisper about me," I told him. I knew what my brothers would say if they'd caught me weakening myself just to avoid hearing people talk about me. I hoped Mir wouldn't be the same way. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

"Moron," he snarled at me. His snarl didn't have quite the same effect at it would have coming from a shifter's throat, but it was effective nonetheless. "Which dorm are you in?" he asked. I looked up at him, surprised at the question.

"I live in the house, not one of the dorms," I told him. He grabbed my wrist and started dragging me toward my house.

"C'mon," he snarled. I planted my feet.

"Get your hands off of me!" I yelled. He didn't let go of me immediately. I whirled, stepping towards him, catching him off guard. A moment later I had swept his legs out from under him and had scrambled back away from him, out of his reach. I was panting in effort from just that short interaction. I really needed to get my strength back from being sick.

"What the fuck is your problem?" he yelled back. "I was just walking you back to your dorm. You're obviously still sick." I just stared at him.

"What are you talking about? You demanded where I live and started dragging me there. How was I supposed to know what you were doing?" I demanded. He blinked, just as confused and started laughing. I took another step back, wondering what was wrong with this guy. He stopped laughing and looked up at me.

"I'm sorry, I'm so used to girls falling over themselves for the 'I'm so overprotective, I'm helping you for your own good' thing. I forgot you aren't like them," he chuckled again as he stood, holding his hands out, in surrender.

"Girls really fall for that crap?" I asked him. He nodded. I burst out laughing at that and he joined me.

"All the time," he laughed. He then offered me his arm with a bow. "Would you allow me to escort you home?" I hesitated.

"Why would you want to do that?" I asked. I was still fighting for breath. Gods, I needed my strength back. I focused on the partial shift and even that winded me. This wasn't good. I needed to get home and back to safety. I couldn't keep shifting forms. It took energy I didn't have.

"It's what friends do," he replied simply. I placed my hand on his arm, hoping my faith in him wasn't misplaced.

"I would appreciate the escort," I told him, betraying how sick I still felt. I kept my hand on his arm for support as we walked back to my house.

"Sam?" I heard Shannon's voice behind me, full of accusation. I turned to face her, confused. "Aren't you dating that wolf boy?" she asked, looking at my hand that was still on Mir's arm. I nodded, confused.

"I am. Mir was just walking me home," I told her, still confused. Mir dropped his arm from under my hand. I looked over at him confused too.

"Sam took sick on her walk home. I merely offered to escort her home,"

"I'll walk her the rest of the way," Shannon hissed at him. He raised his hands in defeat and took a step back.

"Until later, Sam," he told me before disappearing into the shadows. Shannon wrapped an arm around my back and turned me back to the house.

"He was just being nice," I told her. She shook her head.

"He wants something from you." I rolled my eyes.

"He said he wants to be my friend," I replied, wondering why she was so upset.

"Gods, you're naive. He wants in your pants. Not everyone is as nice as those shifter boys you spend all your time with,"

"He was just being nice, Shannon. You're not the only nice person in this school," I told her. She sighed.

"Just be careful with him. And don't casually touch boys here. They'll get the wrong idea. This isn't like the shifters," she reminded me. We made it back to my house. "Will you be ok?" she asked. I rolled my eyes again.

"I'm fine," I told her, still confused about how she was acting. She didn't look convinced, but did leave me since I was safely at my house.

 


	55. Chapter 55

I stormed into the house, still pissed at Shannon's behavior. It was uncalled for. Mir was just being nice. I stomped up to my room and turned on my laptop while I changed into my pajamas to fwump on the bed. It only took a minute to find Mir on Facebook and sent the friend invite. I sent messages to my dad and Caleb letting them both know that I was ok. They were both worriers. I made sure my alarm for the morning was set before I started diving in to the school's online library to do some research. I didn't feel like going back up to the main school to research when I could probably find what I wanted online. I didn't want to deal with the rest of the kids.

I read up about rejecting the change from human to vampire. The more I read, the more I realized that I was really lucky to survive it. No one ever did. Before the alliance with the shifters it was nearly 75% of all who attempted the transition rejected the change. Now it was down to less than a quarter.

I dug back into even older records, things some librarians had probably scanned, not even realizing what they were, or that they would be of interest to anyone. Apparently, when the vampires were about to go extinct, they made a pact with the shifters. They started changing the shapeshifters into vampires. The shapeshifters had a higher likelihood of surviving the change, since they had stronger bodies. It was then that the schools were created to train humans and shifters with the potential to change to vampire.

I tabbed over to Facebook when it dinged. Mir had accepted my friend request. -Sorry about Shannon- I typed to him in messenger -I don't know what her problem is-

-She's just worried about you- he replied. -You did almost die. You're kind of a celebrity around here now-

I groaned. I didn't want to be a celebrity. I was already a celebrity for being the sole shifter. -Just what I needed...-

-You sure you're ok?- Caleb texted me. I smiled at that.

-I'm sure-

-You were sick for an awfully long time-

-I know, and I'm still weak and I hate it. I'm so used to being strong. I fought so hard to be accepted by the shifter males as equal-

-You'll get your strength back. You nearly died- Caleb reminded me. I sighed, then picked up my phone to call him. I was tired of texting already.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked on the first ring. I smiled just hearing his voice.

"What if I don't get my strength back?" I asked him, really worried.

"You will. You're going to work at karate and be perfectly capable of kicking my ass again in a week or two,"

"But what if I don't?" I asked him again. Something still irked me about the vampire histories. Something had been left out and I just couldn't find it yet.

"I'll still love you. All of the shifters will still love you. We're your family and we're not going to abandon you because you can't bench press a semi," he reminded me. "Now stop being silly,"

"I had one other thing I wanted to talk to you about," I told him. I took a deep breath. "One of the boys a grade ahead of me sat with me at dinner. He walked me back to my house afterwards. Shannon said he wanted sex or something, but he said he just wanted to be friends. She also said people would get the wrong idea if I spend any time with him. I think she meant you would get the wrong idea..." I trailed off.

"Do you want to date him?" Caleb asked, almost sounding hurt.

"Hell no. I want to date you. I just wanted to make sure you weren't going to freak out if I have a male friend," I explained. I heard his sigh of relief.

"I'm not going to freak out. Just be careful. Not all guys can handle just being friends,"

"I will be,"

"Will you please go to bed now? You need to rest still and we both have school tomorrow,"

"Fine," I grumbled, but I was glad he cared.

"Goodnight Sam," I heard the words he wasn't speaking. He could say that he'd still love me when it was a hypothetical, but we'd only been dating a few weeks, and I'd been unconscious for two of those weeks.

"Night Caleb," I told him and hung up the phone. I went to bed, dreading what tomorrow was going to bring.

 


	56. Chapter 56

I woke earlier than I needed to. I was determined to get my strength back. The only way I was going to do that was with hard work. So I got up early and did the same thing I did as a kid when I wanted to keep up with my brothers. I did pushups. I could only do ten before my arms gave out. I promised myself I'd do more tomorrow. That was the only way to get better. I hated that I could only do ten. That was nothing to a shapeshifter. I couldn't believe being sick had really made me lose this much strength. I also went on a short run. It was way more walking than running. This was ridiculous. I was going to have to ask Shannon at breakfast if she had any idea what was going on. I sent her a text on my walk back to my house to let her know I wanted to talk.

I had just enough time to grab a quick shower before I had to run to breakfast. I beat Shannon to breakfast and took a seat at my usual table, devouring my breakfast while I waited for her. There were still four of the 'vitamins' on my breakfast tray. I wasn't surprised at all to see them, nor was I hesitant to take them. I would die without them after all.

Shannon came in soon and sat down with me. "What's up?" she asked as she sat down.

"Something's been wrong since I was sick," I told her. I didn't know exactly how to explain what was going on, but I was going to try. She looked up from her breakfast, concerned.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"I lost a _lot_ of strength while I was sick. Way more than I should have. I could barely do ten pushups this morning." I heard the whine in my voice and stopped. "Do you know of any reason why I would have lost this much strength and stamina?"

"It's not just because you were sick? You did nearly die and you've only been out of the hospital a couple of days. You're probably pushing yourself too hard," Shannon didn't sound convincing. I focused on her, trying to tell her with my expression that I didn't believe what she was saying.

"You know something," I accused her. She looked away. "Shannon, tell me." I told her, nearly begging.

"I've heard of this kind of thing happening before. Most of the kids it happens to don't really notice the difference... they make us do physical activities to help cover for it. It's not common knowledge, not anymore. And the vampires do our best to hide it from the humans, but vampires are physically weaker than humans. We can make up for it with physical conditioning and get back to nearly normal human strength. The upside is that we have magic and vampiric abilities, which compensate immensely for the lack of physical strength. That's probably what you're feeling, though," she was babbling. I sighed.

"This is permanent?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Usually it happens to the vampires who have the strongest magic and the strongest vampiric abilities," she added as if that would make this whole mess better. "The only thing you can do is work extra hard at your phys ed classes. That and pray that it's really just that you've only been out of the hospital a couple of days."

"I hope so," I replied feeling downcast. It didn't seem very likely, and seemed even less likely with my luck lately. I had worked so hard to keep up with the male shifters, boys who were groomed to be athletic and protectors. All of those years of training were lost in a few short weeks because of the stupid vampires and my stupid horrible luck of being Chosen.

I shook off the depressed thoughts, vowing to earn my strength back. I wasn't going to just give up because it was hard. That wasn't me. The bell rang and we had to go to class. I bid Shannon goodbye and told her I'd see her later. I wasn't looking forward to classes again. I was a freak and knew all of my classmates would be talking about my miraculous recovery. I gathered the shreds of my willpower and headed off to class, praying it wouldn't be as bad as I feared.

"Morning wolf-girl," Mir told me with a grin as I passed him on the way to classes. He had such a kind mirth to him that I knew he hadn't meant it as an insult.

"Morning fang-boy," I replied. I stuck my tongue out at him while he sputtered and quickly darted down the Apprentice hallway where he had no business being, since all of his classes would be in the Novice hallway.

 


	57. Chapter 57

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I have prepared. More will come as I write them

I ducked into the classroom for my first class of the day. My brain had shifted back from seeing Mir in the hallway to what Shannon and I had discussed at breakfast. I didn't want to believe that I was really losing my strength because of being a vampire. I hated the idea that it was even possible. I had worked _so_ hard to be able to keep up with my brothers and prove that girls were just as capable as boys. The shifters were going to see me as another of their vulnerable shifter women who needed protecting if word got out about this before I could figure out how to get my strength back. I needed it back now. I would just have to do the work.

I sat by myself in class, as I usually did. I was surprised when my classmates actually sat around me instead of filling all of the other seats first, like I was some kind of plague. "So what was it like?" one boy asked me, acting like he had been my friend this whole time.

"Yeah, what happens when you reject the change?" a girl asked.

"How'd you survive?" another asked.

More students gathered around, all wanting answers. I contemplated selfishly not answering them, but that wasn't my way, even if they hadn't been nice to me previously. I also realized that despite their bravado and all of their pretending to be normal, they were just scared kids. None of us were ever really told what was happening to us, or what would happen if we failed to complete the change.

So I told them. I spent every moment until the teacher arrived telling them what happened when my body began to reject the change. I told them about losing strength and how vampires were weaker than normal humans. And I told them the thing I was supposed to keep secret above all else. I told them about the pills. Everything Shannon and I had found out I told them.

They thanked me over and over again and I knew I had finally gained respect in my classmates eyes. None of them paid attention in class that day as they were all consumed with the information I had given them. I did pay attention to the fact that Professor Rhodes still wasn't back. It had been over two weeks since she disappeared.

"Did they ever say what happened to Professor Rhodes?" I asked one of my classmates after class. She shook her head.

"All they said is that she's gone missing," she replied. She and the others who all had the same class as me walked me to my class, almost like an honor guard. I was used to such behavior from my brothers and the thought made me smile, remembering all the times we had walked like this. I wasn't used to it from my classmates, though. I guessed that Mir was right and they really were idolizing me. I was a hero to them, someone who had survived the thing they all feared. I lived to tell them about it, and I wasn't telling them just about that experience, but also about other things the school was hiding from us all. I also knew that none of them were stupid enough to tell the teachers what I had told them.

By lunch my strength was failing. I didn't want to do it, especially surrounded by my yearmates, but I knew I would have no choice. I wouldn't survive the rest of my classes without help. "I-I don't want to scare you all away..." I hesitated.

"What's wrong?" one of the girls asked. I was going to have to learn all of their names if they kept being nice to me...

"I told you all about the vampires are weaker than humans thing. I've only been out of the hospital a couple of days and I'm not going to make it through the day without help..." I still hesitated.

"What can we do to help?" one of the boys asked. Gods, I was going to have a lot of names to learn.

"Um...I can." I hesitated again. Why was this so hard? "I can do a partial shift, pull strength from my shifter side to make it through the day, but it can be disconcerting to humans," I threw out the words quickly before I lost my nerve. The group seemed to sigh in relief that that's all it was.

"Go ahead," the boy told me. "We'll bash in the skulls of anyone who tries to be mean to you about it." I was glad for the change of opinion from the class, but I still wished they had come up with it sooner, and before I nearly died. I nodded though and stood from my spot at the table. I didn't want them all watching me shift forms. I only had to take a few steps to be sheltered behind one of the plants in the cafeteria. I shifted forms quickly, pulling strength from my wolf. My ears had shifted and I had a tail. I worried again that my classmates were going to turn against me again, but when I returned to the table they didn't shun me. They welcomed me back with kind words. I took my seat again, still self conscious, but I felt so much better with the extra strength of my wolf. I might just make it through this day.

 


	58. Chapter 58

I kept my wolf with me for most of the next few days.I also spent as much time as possible trying to get my strength back.That part felt like one of those training montages from 80s movies.I spent every free moment in the dojo, or the weight room, or running.Eric came up every afternoon to run in the woods with me.I confided to him about the vampires’ weakness and agreed to keep the information from dad.He wouldn’t understand and would get all of the shifters riled about the vampires.

I was horrified on Friday when someone walked into my house. I’d locked the doors as I always had, ever since Professor Rhodes went missing, I made sure to lock up the second I got home.I was sitting in the living room watching TV and doing homework when the door opened.It wasn’t forced open.Whoever it was either picked the lock, or had a key. 

That didn’t keep me from jumping to my feet, fists balled.I padded silently on bare feet toward the front door, my wolf ears pricked for danger.There was a young female vampire carrying a heavy looking cardboard box entering my house.

“Who are you?” I demanded with as much authority in my words as I could muster.She should not have been in my house unannounced.It didn’t matter that she was a full vampire, which I could tell by the tattoos on her hands, her paler skin, the feel of her.The vampires felt different than the students, more powerful and deadly.They just had an air about them.

She smiled brightly and set her box down.“I’m Professor Sanguinati.I just graduated from University,” she explained as she held out a hand for me to shake. Like all of the vampires, she looked young, no older than the 18 she would have been when she made the change.She had the pale skin and ebony hair of a stereotypical vampire.I knew that some of them chose to dye their hair to fit the stereotype on purpose.There tended to be less trouble with the humans if there was no way to mistake the vampires for human.

I reached out warily to shake her hand.“I’m Samantha Lykos,” I replied. My father had raised me to be polite.Nearly to a fault in this case.“What are you doing here, Professor?” I pressed after I’d dropped her hand.I really wanted to know what she was doing in my house.

“The Academy asked me to take over Professor Rhodes’ classes until she returns.The headmistress also asked that I live here with you so there’s a full vampire in residence,” she explained. I blanched.Yes, it sucked living alone at fifteen, but I didn’t want to think that Professor Rhodes wasn’t coming back.

“Do you know where Professor Rhodes is?When she’s coming back?” I liked Professor Rhodes.She was more a friend than a teacher, even though I’d only had a couple weeks of classes with her, but she’d always treated me like any other student from day one.She’d accepted who I was and I liked her.I wanted her to be ok.

“I wasn’t told when she’d be back. They really just asked me to sub for her while she’s gone…” she replied.She was lying.I’d learned how to smell a lie as a child.All shifters did.

“You know something,” I accused more bravely than I felt.Standing up to authority figures wasn’t done in the shifter community. 

She sighed.“I _told_ the headmistress not to try to keep secrets from you.Fine. But you can _not_ tell anyone that I told you,” she told me firmly.I nodded quickly.I’d agree to anything to find out what happened to Professor Rhodes.“Professor Rhodes went missing.She went shopping one evening and disappeared.We think someone kidnapped her.The warriors are looking, but we’ve had no leads,” she admitted. 

I just stared in shock and horror. 

Professor Rhodes was missing?

Not on sabbatical or something.

She was legitimately missing.

And abducted?

Who would abduct a vampire?It was like abducting one of the shifters.Abducting one of the vampires would just get _all_ of the vampires angry and chasing after the abductors.At least, that what I thought would happen.That’s what would happen if I was abducted.Every shifter in the country would be on the hunt for me, though I was the cherished daughter of _the_ alpha.

“I’m sure we’ll find her soon.All of the warriors are searching for her.And you’re perfectly safe on campus and with your shifters,” Professor Sanguinati reassured me quickly. 

I nodded, still in a daze over that news.“Thank you for letting me know,” I told her politely, my voice as dazed as I felt.“I should leave you to your unpacking…” I grabbed my things from the living room and dashed upstairs as soon as was seemly.

Or I would have, had she not grabbed my arm.I whirled automatically as emotions roiled within me.I couldn’t sort them out or think through them.I just felt everything bubbling and boiling up inside.I cried out in pain, holding my temples as a nearby trashcan burst into flames.

Somehow, some way, I had done that. 

I had started the fire.

I swayed on my feet as I stared in horror at the flames.

I had done that.

How on Earth had I started a fire?

With my mind?


	59. Chapter 59

The trashcan was on fire. 

Fuck!

The trashcan was still on fire!!

I didn’t know how I could’ve started the fire, though I somehow knew that the fire had come from me.I felt weak, slow, stupid, wobbly.My legs felt like rubber, like they had after the six hour karate session with all of the shifters.I felt just as wrung out and exhausted now as I had felt then. 

The fire had definitely come from me.

And the trashcan was still on fire. 

“Apprentice Lykos, attend!” the words were an order, old protocol from a time long past. 

They had the same effect an order from my father, my alpha did.My head snapped up and I couldn’t help looking over at her.I realized that she had called my name a couple of times before she’d resorted to those words in that tone. 

I shook my head, trying to clear it.“I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you, I-” I paused not sure what I was trying to say.

“Calm down, Apprentice.This is perfectly normal, though a bit early,” she said in a soothing voice.She waved a hand and the fire vanished from the trashcan. 

“You have magic too?” I asked stupidly.Gods, where was my brain today? It shouldn’t be this difficult to think .

“Yes, most of the vampire have at least some magic,” she said gently.“Come sit down, dear,” yeah, she was definitely older than she looked, as were all of the vampires.They were eternally eighteen, all of them, but they sometimes slipped and revealed their true ages.Like Professor Sanguinati just did by calling me ‘dear’, especially in that matronly tone.

However, I didn’t have a better option than to follow her into the living room. She claimed a seat in the comfy chair.Once the higher ranking member was seated I was free to take my usual spot on the couch.

Shit, I was thinking about this strange vampire in shifter terms.That wasn’t a good thing.Granted, it didn’t hurt to be polite.But she wasn’t pack, not yet, maybe not ever. I didn’t know enough about her to be thinking of her as pack.

She wasn’t pack.

She wasn’t.

Gods, I was off today.

My brain still felt stupid and slow.My limbs felt heavy and unwieldy, but weak and rubbery at the same time.It was an awful feeling. It was even worse with the knowledge that I conditioned my body to keep up with male shifters, warriors, and it was failing me now.I hated that it was failing me.And I hated worse having the knowledge that it might get even get worse.My body might weaken around me, just because of the magic.It was a thought I couldn’t stand.

“Everything you’re feeling is normal,” she reassured me once we were seated.“As I said, it’s early, usually magic doesn’t begin to manifest until third year.It’s not surprising that your powers have manifested early.Don’t fret.We’ll teach you how to use and control them properly,”

“More lessons?” I groaned.I was already overbooked as it was.And taking more classes than any other Freshman, probably in the entire city.Plus I was helping teach karate to the shifter girls who wanted to learn. 

The professor laughed and I had a feeling that I was going to be able to like her after all.“More lessons, but we’ll see about rearranging your schedule to make things a bit easier on you. There’s no need for you to be in the apprentice class if you’ve progressed beyond those students.For tonight, you should eat something and go to bed.The first use of magic is always draining; you need food and rest to replenish. You’ll feel fuzzy-headed tonight, maybe tomorrow.If you’re not feeling well in the morning, I’ll make sure you’re excused from classes, so there’s nothing for you to worry about.Go get some sleep, Apprentice,”

“It’s Sam,” I told her with a smile as you stood, surprised at how difficult standing was. “If we’re going to share a house until Professor Rhodes returns, you should call me by my name,” I was raised to be polite after all and would never call her anything besides ‘professor’ but that didn’t mean that she had to stick to complete formality.

She nodded with a bright smile.“Goodnight, Sam,” she replied.I nodded and swung by the kitchen to snag a brownie on my way up to my room. 

The second I got there, I closed and locked the door, then pulled my phone from my pocket to call Caleb while I got dressed for bed.“Hey Sammi,” Caleb answered, teasing my name, as per usual. Annoying adorable wolf.I realized as I was taking my shirt off that it was suddenly awkward to undress while on the phone with Caleb. It hadn’t seemed important before, it’s not like he was watching me, but it still felt to… intimate.So I paused my actions.

“Cay, I’m glad you answered,” I replied, shortening his name in turn to annoy him, just as ‘Sammi’ annoyed me. It was a teasing annoyance and friendly and familiar. That didn’t change that I needed to talk to him before I figured out how to tell my parents the news.

“Sam?” his tone changed from adorable boyfriend to overprotective alpha-to-be in an instant.“What happened?What’s wrong?” he demanded, and I could hear the frustration in his voice that he couldn’t do anything from where he was except listen to my troubles.

“Nothing’s wrong.Just, something strange happened today and I wanted to tell you about it. Maybe you can help me figure out what to say to dad,” when the males got overprotective and snarly, it was best to turn them back to helping someone, protecting someone. 

“What is it?” he asked again, though his voice was a little less frantic.

I hesitated, unsure how to explain, and unsure that Caleb would be able to accept one more strange thing about me on top of all of the other strange things.“I… did magic tonight.I set a fire… with my mind,” I tried to find the words to explain, but there really were none. 

Would he accept what I’d done? 

Would he believe me? 

Would he still like me if he did?


End file.
